Nirmala Menikpura

Profile

Nirmala is a strategic and analytical environmental specialist, leveraging more than 17 years of comprehensive international-level experience in environmental technology and policy research. She holds a PhD in Environmental Technology/Life Cycle Assessment. She has remarkable expertise in providing policy recommendations through quantitative analysis via the Life Cycle Assessment perspective in the field of climate change/carbon footprint, sustainability, waste management, resource circulation, agriculture, and renewable energy.

Her recent work involved with organizations like Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, World Bank, Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), Energy Savings Trust UK, UNDP, Ministry of Environmental Japan, Ministry of Environment in the Philippines, and many more.

In 2023, Nirmala was recognised in Marquis Who’s Who for her dedication to the field of climate change and in July 2023, was also featured in Marquis Who’s Who Top Scientists.

Expertise

Nirmala has proven abilities to develop global-level environmental tools/models to assess climate change, sustainability, and resource circularity via a life cycle assessment perspective. Quantitative models that she developed, like Emission Quantification Tool (EQT) and IGES-GHG calculator to quantify the life cycle climate impact from the waste sector, are being extensively used at the international level for policy and decision-making.

She has extensive experience in conducting field surveys for original data collection and quantifying the climate and other environmental impacts of various waste treatment options in different countries, namely, UK, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, India, China, Japan, and Sri Lanka. The findings of these studies helped provide evidence-based policies and strategies at the city or national levels on sustainable waste management. Nirmala’s most recent consultancy work with the Energy Saving Trust, UK, was to assess the lifecycle-based climate footprint and circularity of off-grid and weak-grid cold rooms and refrigeration technologies in the African region.

Nirmala has produced high-quality policy reports/briefs, academic papers, and articles compiling original research findings. Further, she has actively contributed to organizing and conducting training workshops/seminars for capacity building and outreach activities to share knowledge and experience with wider stakeholders at the national and international levels.

• Develop climate models/tools via a life cycle assessment perspective
• Quantifying climate impact/carbon footprint caused by both GHG/SLCP and providing recommendations for achieving a “net-zero” target
• Life cycle assessment of projects or services
• Three-dimensional sustainability assessment via life cycle perspective
• Provide policy recommendations through quantitative analysis