Biography
Mohammed Saffar is a Consulting Fellow at Chatham House’s Global Economy and Finance Programme, and a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research focuses on climate change, climate finance and international development.
Mohammed previously worked at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where he led work commissioned by donor governments to identify solutions for scaling up the mobilisation of private finance towards climate action in developing countries, as well as technical assistance programmes supporting developing countries in meeting their clean energy financing needs.
Before joining the OECD, Mohammed held a number of roles in the UK government. He led the process to advise successive prime ministers on the UK’s bid to host COP26, led the initial development of the policy programme for COP26, and later served as Head of Strategy and Engagement to the UK/UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, Mark Carney. He has also worked on wider international economic policy issues, including extensively at the G20, G7, and other multilateral fora and processes.
Past experience
| 2025–present | Consulting Fellow, Chatham House; Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science |
| 2022–2025 | Policy Analyst, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) |
| 2020–2021 | Head of Strategy and Engagement, COP26 Private Finance, HM Treasury |
| 2018–2020 | Head, Climate Change, Economic Security and Trade, National Security Secretariat, Cabinet Office |
| 2016–2018 | Head, EU Market Access Strategy, HM Treasury |
| 2016 | Head of Political Programme, British Embassy Tripoli, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office |