Andrew Steer
Distinguished Research Professor of the Practice in Environment and Economics
Sir Andrew Steer, PhD, is Distinguished Research Professor of the Practice in Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and the Earth Commons. He is also Professor of Practice at the London School of Economics.
Sir Andrew served, most recently (2021-2025) as the inaugural President and CEO of the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund, the world's largest philanthropy for nature and climate, investing in systems change across nature protection, food and agriculture, industrial and energy decarbonization, financial reform, and the application of AI and big data.
He was President and CEO of the World Resources Institute (2012-2021), leading a team of 1600 professionals at an NGO consistently ranked as the top Think Tank/Do Tank on sustainable development.
Previously, he served as Special Envoy for Climate Change at the World Bank, Director General at the UK’s Department of International Development, and Director of the World Bank in East Asia.
In 2024 he was knighted by King Charles in recognition of “sustained contribution as one of the world’s best-known leaders in global sustainable development economics"; and was named by Forbes as one of the world’s 50 most influential environmental leaders, in its inaugural Sustainability Leaders awards.
He serves on the UK Foreign Secretary’s External Foreign Policy Board, is co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Innovative Finance; and a member of the boards of BRAC, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.
He was educated at St Andrews University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University, and has a PhD in Economics and Finance. He is married to Dr. Liesbet Steer. They have two children: Charlotte, an environmental professional, and Benjamin, an Indie Pop artist.