Charlene's research interests focus on the complexities associated with channelling and programming climate finance effectively and how all finance flows can be made consistency with climate objectives.
As part of the Climate and Sustainability Programme, Charlene’s work at ODI focuses on the flows, sources and instruments of climate finance at both the national and international level as well as how wider finance flows can become more consistent with climate objectives. Within this her work considers what constitutes climate-related expenditure as well as monitoring and tracking finance and financial incentives so as to explore the effectiveness of the spend; a delicate balance between competing objectives and reliant on an enabling environment.
Charlene’s experience spans academia, multilateral institutions and NGOs. Her prior experience centres around forest conservation and reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) which brings together a number of contemporary issues in conservation and development, as well as presenting interesting challenges for international climate change policy and finance. Her work before joining ODI included environmental valuation, forest carbon accounting, and environmental cost-benefit analyses.