Oshani Perera

Director of Programmes

Oshani works on sustainable finance. For the past 20 years, she has designed and structured projects on sustainable infrastructure, green infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. Oshani has also worked on public private partnerships (PPP) and the design of public tenders for green infrastructure, renewable energy, sustainable food and drink and sustainable packing. She has also worked on sustainable finance taxonomies and has advised 25 countries on the above topics.  

Oshani co-founded the Shamba Centre to experiment with ways to create markets for externalities.

She is now working with our partner, Quantified Ventures, in setting up Shamba Ventures, a special purpose vehicle on outcome-based finance.

Prior to setting up the Shamba Centre, Oshani worked with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), McKinsey & Company, KPMG and UNEP. She brokered a landmark partnership between IISD, the Global Environment Facility, the MAVA Foundation on Nature-based Infrastructure. Oshani 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, she also co-designed an inventory of over 100 credit enhancement products.  

Oshani serves on expert groups of the European Union, IFAD, the GEF, the OECD and the International Olympic Council. In her private capacity, she continues to work with the company she co-founded on vegan food and on practicing regenerative agriculture.  

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)