Why is the world’s largest provider of development aid becoming a climate agency?

With a budget of $30-40 billion a year and a presence in 100 countries worldwide, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is the world’s largest provider of overseas development and disaster assistance. In 2021, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced that USAID must become a “climate agency.”

Come hear from USAID’s Chief Climate Officer and founding Conduit member Gillian Caldwell about why and how USAID is placing the climate crisis front and centre in its work across humanitarian aid, health, democracy, education, conflict prevention and more.

Speakers:

Gillian Caldwell serves as the Chief Climate Officer and is responsible for directing and overseeing all climate and environment work across the agency. She also serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator, overseeing DDI’s Center for Environment, Energy, and Infrastructure and the Office of Environmental and Social Risk Management. Ms. Caldwell has worked to protect human rights and the environment throughout her career. Prior to joining USAID, she served as the CEO of Global Witness, which has a focus on tackling climate change and deploys investigations into corruption and natural resource extraction to drive systems change worldwide. Gillian also has extensive experience consulting in the areas of strategic planning and organizational development with over 70 non-profits, foundations, and universities.

Paul Van Zyl is the co-Founder of The Conduit and Chief Creative Officer. Paul is a winner of the prestigious Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He served as the Executive Secretary of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission and co-founded the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), an international human rights organisation based in New York City.

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