Mr. Manuel Cocco works as an Environmental Analyst at the World Bank office in Bangkok. His academic background includes a double MS in Industrial Engineering, a Master in Business Administration, International Relations and Foreign Trade, and a Postgraduate Degree in Technologies for Human Development (with focus in IT and Renewable Energies).
Manuel is a young professional with over five years of international experience. His work at the World Bank cover a wide range of activities linked to the Bank’s broad Southeast Asian environmental portfolio, with a specific emphasis on Climate Change Adaptation issues. While he is working on areas that span from air pollution control to chemical management, water management, natural resources and forest law enforcement, most of his current work is related to climate resilience projects in Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Some of the more relevant initiatives that he has been managing include:
- A study that evaluates the socioeconomic impacts of Climate Change in four Asian coastal mega-cities (250 K$ for Bangkok);
- A three years trust funded project that explores the hydro-agricultural and economic impacts of CC in the rural areas of the Mekong river basin (1 M$ for northeaster Thailand and Lao PDR);
- The Climate Resilient Cities (CRC) Program in Vietnam (Can Tho City) and the coordination of the CRC Program with similar initiatives like Rockefeller Foundation’s ACCCRN;
- The Climate Change Coordination Group for Thailand, a voluntary coordination initiative with representatives from UN Agencies, multilateral development banks, bilateral donor agencies and NGO’s.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Manuel has been promoting Spanish renewable energy firms in the US for one year and before that, has been an international IT consultant for more than three years.