Dr Jessica Omukuti

I have a background in both research and design and implementation of resilience and development interventions. Prior to joining the University of Oxford, I led research on climate finance at the University of York. Before that, I worked in international development organizations such as the Green Climate Fund, Mercy Corps and CARE International. 

I am broadly interested in understanding how responses to climate change affect societies in the Global South. Within this is work on the governance of climate change adaptation and mitigation, climate justice, just transitions and climate finance in the Global South.  

My most recent research has focused on governance of climate finance for adaptation. However, I am now expanding to focus on the governance of strategies for Net Zero emissions particularly in the Global South. My research has mainly been based on Sub-Saharan Africa, but I have also recently started focusing on governance of Net Zero in Latin America, the Caribbean and South Asia.  

Teaching

I will be leading a Trinity Term graduate course on Anthropology and Climate Justice in the Department of Anthropology. I will also contribute to teaching on sessions on Understanding Net Zero and the politics of extraction.  

I am happy to have a chat with prospective students who are broadly interested in understanding or researching the performance or justice implications of global and national climate change policies in the Global South, particularly Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and South Asia. 

Awards and Distinctions

Awarded the Women in Climate Change Sciences Fellowship (2021-2022) by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). 

Awarded the ESRC COP26 Fellowship (2020-2021) 

Awarded the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship at the University of Reading (2016-2020) 

I was awarded a PhD in climate finance and climate justice from the University of Reading (2020), a MSc in Climate Change and Development from the University of Sussex (2014) and a Bsc in Meteorology from the University of Nairobi. 

Recent Publications

Omukuti J., Marchant R., White P. (2021). COP26 as an opportunity to further democratise the Green Climate Fund. The Lancet Planetary Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00175-3  

Omukuti J., Megaw, A., Barlow, M., Altink, H. & White, P. (2021). The value of secondary use of data generated by non-governmental organisations for disaster risk management research: evidence from the Caribbean. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102114 

Omukuti J. (2021) Lessons from Tanzanian forest management: Justice in environmental and climate policy transitions. In Ryder et al. (Eds) Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene From (Un)Just Presents to Just Futures. Routledge. 

Omukuti, J., 2021. The Green Climate Fund Is Not Doing Enough to Support Just Transitions in the Global South. Just Transitions Research Collaborative. https://medium.com/just-transitions/the-green-climate-fund-is-not-doing-enough-to-support-just-transitions-in-the-global-south-43a088e48926

Omukuti J., 2021. Climate adaptation finance is ineffective and must be more transparent. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/climate-adaptation-finance-is-ineffective-and-must-be-more-transparent-156469