Mr. Michael Williamson is the acting Director of the UNESCAP Subregional Office for South and Southwest Asia. Prior to this role, Mr. Williamson was the Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to the Executive Secretary of UNESCAP in Bangkok from 2015 to 2017. He began his UNESCAP career in in India in 2013 as the Head of the United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology, a regional institution of UNESCAP. Mr. Williamson’s experience over the last 20 years covers the private sector, government and international organisations. With a focus on sustainable development, energy, STI and climate change he has worked from grassroots development in Asia to managing commercialisation and investment programmes for renewable energy technologies and has given energy policy and strategic advice to governments in Australia. Prior joining the UN, Mr. Williamson worked for Australian governments at state and federal level in the areas of climate change, sustainability and energy policy, formulating renewable energy support policies and guided the development of the emerging renewable energy sector. In the climate change arena, he worked with Australia’s national climate change agency in Canberra managing commercialisation programmes funding advanced solar, wind, biomass and wave power technologies. In this role he also was the policy manager of a venture capital fund investing in renewable energy startup companies. In between his government roles he undertook a series of technical and humanitarian assignments with the International Committee of the Red Cross, restoring essential services to communities during the civil war in Nepal from 2004 to 2007. During the 1990’s, Mr. Williamson gained several years’ experience developing energy projects for remote communities in Nepal. Mr. Williamson holds a Master of Science in Renewable Energy Technology from Loughborough University, UK, an honours degree in Civil Engineering from Monash University, Australia and a post graduate diploma in Management from the Australian Institute of Management.