Oshani Perera

Director of Programmes

Oshani has 16 years experience providing advice and advocacy in 25 countries, on sustainable infrastructure, nature-based solutions, public procurement, sustainable finance, foreign direct investment, ESG, and sustainability reporting. She co-founded the Shamba Centre to find systemic ways to make food systems more sustainable.  

Before setting up the Shamba Centre, Oshani worked with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), McKinsey & Company, KPMG and UNEP. 

She brokered and co-designed a landmark partnership between IISD, the Global Environment Facility, the MAVA Foundation and UNIDO on Nature-based Infrastructure. She also co-designed the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi), which uses systems dynamics and project finance to calculate the risks and externalities of infrastructure projects. To promote blended capital for sustainable ventures, Oshani also co-designed an inventory of over 100 credit enhancement products. 

Oshani has served on expert groups of the European Union, the OECD and the International Olympic Council. She was twice shortlisted for The Economist essay competition and was featured as an hero by the MAVA Foundation. In her private capacity, she continues to work on vegan foods and regenerative agriculture.   

Oshani holds a BSC in Business from Cornell University/University of St Gallen, a MSc in Economic Policy from the University of Strathclyde and an MSc in Environmental Technology from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. She was born in Sri Lanka, and has lived and worked in Europe, Asia and Africa including Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana.

Languages: English, French

Oshani’s work

Research reports and briefs

  • Biodiversity and Infrastructure: A better nexus? (IISD website)

  • Ideas and Solutions to Address the USD 50 Trillion Infrastructure Deficit: A contribution to the 2015 G-20 Summit, Antalya, Turkey (IISD website)

  • Credit Enhancement for Sustainable Infrastructure (IISD website)

  • Rethinking Investment Incentives (IISD website)

  • Sustainable Procurement in Fragile States (IISD website)

  • Reforming Over-the-Counter Markets: The role of central counterparts (IISD website)

  • Basel III: To what extent will it promote sustainable development? (IISD website)

  • Opportunities for Sustainability Along the Financial Services Value Chain (Speech) (IISD website)

  • The Sustainable Asset Valuation of the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor in Tanzania (SAGCOT) Initiative: A focus on irrigation (IISD website)

  • Financing Soil Remediation: Exploring the use of financing instruments to blend public and private capital (IISD website)

  • Integration of Climate Data in the SAVi Irrigation Model (IISD website)

  • Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) of Senegal’s Saloum Delta (IISD website)

  • An Application of the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) Methodology: Assessing the economic value of restoring the wetlands of S'Ena Arrubia and Corru S'Ittiri-Marceddì-San Giovanni in the Gulf of Oristano in Sardinia, Italy (IISD website)

  • Lake Dal in Srinagar, India: Application of the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) methodology for the analysis of conservation options (IISD website)

  • Green Economy Analysis in Georgia: Application of the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) tool for the analysis of sustainable infrastructure investments (IISD website)

  • Handbook for INGP Public Procurers / Manual para Agentes de Compras Públicas de las RICG (IISD website)

  • Applying the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) Tool to the 9.5 GW Offshore Wind Farm, North Sea, The Netherlands (IISD website)

Multimedia

  • Keynote presentation at the 2020 Annual General Meeting of the International Association of Dredging Industry (YouTube video)

  • Oshani Perera in conversation on measuring sustainability impacts with Joseph Mariadasan, Contributing Editor of Investments & Pensions Europe magazine and Director at GIST Advisory (IISD website)

  • Oshani Perera workshop on the Sustainable Infrastructure: the dollar value of externalities (Facebook video)

  • Think Nature Webinar 3: Blended Capital For Nature Based Infrastructure (YouTube video)

  • Lecture on Public Procurement for Sustainability, delivered at Society for International Development, The Netherlands (YouTube video)

  • Economic Value on Ecosystems. Delivered at the Africa Forum on Green Economy (YouTube video)

  • Webinar: Financing soil remediation projects: experiences from China and the world (IISD website)

Blogs

  • Behind the Scenes of the G20: a Substantive Process Leads to a Significant Statement (IISD website)

  • Investing in sustainable energy: The case for solar technology in Sri Lanka (Daily FT website)

  • Agroforestry for climate resilience (IISD website)

Other

  • Appointed as Mava Foundation hero

  • Interview – Research highlights from the Fifth GGKP Annual Conference - The Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) tool (GGKP website)