Yoko Watanabe is the Director for Environment at the Asian Development Bank. She heads the environmental sustainability work, including nature-based solutions, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management, air quality, circular economy and waste management, and environmental finance. She has over 30 years of professional experience working on biodiversity and natural resources management. Prior to joining ADB, she directed the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme as its Global Manager at UNDP in New York, the largest and longest serving GEF program. She also worked at the GEF Secretariat in Washington DC for over a decade and held key positions, including Regional Coordinator for the Asia Program, Coordinator on Gender and Social Inclusion, and Program Manager on Biodiversity. While at the World Bank, Yoko also served at the Rwanda Country Office and managed its environment portfolio. Before that Yoko worked at the World Wildlife Fund as its Conservation Director in Mongolia and later as a Senior Advisor on Multilateral Relations in Washington DC. She started her development career at JICA in Tokyo, and later at UNDP as Environment Program Officer at Nepal and Mongolia Offices. Yoko is a Japanese national and holds a master’s degree in international development with a focus on environment management.