Mathieu Verougstraete

Team Leader, Infrastructure and Finance for Resilience Unit - UNDRR

Mathieu Verougstraete is a development finance expert with more than 20 years of experience in infrastructure and financing across Asia, North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Pacific. At the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), he leads work on resilient infrastructure and finance for resilience, helping countries integrate disaster risk into public finance management systems. Previously, at UN/DESA’s Financing for Sustainable Development Office in New York, he advised governments and investors on ways to direct private finance toward sustainable investment. He provided technical expertise to the G20 on standards and regulations for environmental, social and governance (ESG) financial products, supported the UN Secretary-General’s Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, and worked with standard-setters on corporate sustainability reporting. Before moving to New York, he spent more than five years with ESCAP in Thailand, helping governments across Asia and the Pacific mobilize infrastructure investment through public-private partnerships. Earlier, at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Commission, he worked on blended finance instruments that mobilized billions in investment in developing countries. He also financed medium-sized companies as a banker at ING Bank. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Engineering from UCL (Louvain) and an Advanced Master’s Degree in Economics from ULB (Brussels).