Paul Ladd

Director, Sustainable Development and Population

Paul Ladd has over 30 years of experience in the United Nations, UK government and civil society. He is passionate about sustainable development, social justice, and building platforms for collaboration – and is a recognized expert in policy, research and advocacy.

He is currently the Director of the Sustainable Development and Population Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and Principal Adviser to the Executive Secretary. He led the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) from 2015 to 2024. Before joining UNRISD he played a key role across the United Nations supporting consultations and technical inputs to define the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. From 2008-2009, he advised the Office of the UN Secretary-General on the impacts of the financial and economic crisis in low- and middle-income countries, and the relationship between the UN and the G20.

Previously Paul had been a policy adviser for the UK Treasury, Chief Economist with Christian Aid, the UK Department for International Development’s economic adviser for the southern Africa region, and a financial adviser in the Central Bank of Guyana.

Paul received his BSc in Economics and his MSc in Quantitative Development Economics from the University of Warwick. In 2016 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Law (LLD), also by the University of Warwick. He is a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society and the Royal Society of Arts, and a Research Associate at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford.