Ligia Noronha was appointed Director of UN Environment’s Economy Division in April 2014. Before joining UN Environment, Dr. Noronha was Executive Director (Research Coordination) at TERI and Director of the Resources, Regulation and Global Security Division. She was Secretary, Asian Energy Institute - a network of Asian and non-Asian institutes, (2005-2011); Coordinator, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnerships (REEEP) South Asia, (2005-2009); and Michael Hintze Energy Security Visiting Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Security Studies (CISS), University of Sydney, Australia, 2009-11. In 2004-2005, she was Team Leader, Ecosystem approaches to Human Health, at the International Development Research Centre of Canada.
She has served on the National Security Advisory Board of the Government of India, and on several expert committees and panels of the Government of India and the Government of Goa, including the Expert Committee on Climate Change, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, and the Task Force on Natural Resources of the Commission on Centre State Relations. She was also a member of the Planning Board of the Government of Goa and Member of the Goa Jubilee Development Council tasked to produce the Goa Vision 2035. She was Member of the External Review Committee, Sustainability Reporting, Shell International, and Member of the Global Assurance Group, Minerals, Metal and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project.
Dr Noronha has published nationally and internationally on issues relating to energy and resource security, climate change, India's environmental and coastal policy, responsible mining, and resource federalism.
She has a Masters in Economics from the University of Bombay, a Masters in Sea Use Law, Economics, and Policy, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.