Mathieu Verougstraete is a development finance expert with 20 years of experience in financing and infrastructure development, across many developing regions (Asia, Northern Africa, Eastern Europe, and The Pacific). He leads the work of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction on resilient infrastructure and finance for resilience.
Prior to joining UNDRR, he advised governments and investors on ways to reorient capital markets towards sustainable investments as part of UN/DESA’s Financing for Sustainable Development Office. Among other things, he provided advice to the G20 on norms/regulations for environmental, social and governance (ESG) financial products; supported the SG’s Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, gathering 30 influential CEOs, and worked with standard-setters on corporate sustainability reporting.
Before moving to New York, he was based in Thailand for over five years working for United Nations ESCAP, where he supported governments in Asia and the Pacific in mobilizing infrastructure investment through public-private partnerships (PPPs). Mathieu Verougstraete also worked previously for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Commission (EC) on blended finance instruments that mobilized billions of critical investments in developing countries. He started his career as a banker for a private finance institution (ING Bank) financing a portfolio of medium-sized companies.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Engineering from UCL (Louvain) and an Advanced Master’s Degree in Economics from ULB (Brussels). He is married and has three children.
