Dymphna van der Lans is an internationally renowned leader in sustainable development, energy, and climate. With over twenty-five years of experience, she currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Clean Cooking Alliance, a global initiative working to transform the household cooking sector by promoting clean and sustainable solutions. In this role, she addresses a critical issue for public health, gender equality, and the fight against climate change: universal access to environmentally friendly cooking methods.

Before leading the Alliance, she held several senior positions at prestigious institutions such as the Clinton Climate Initiative of the Clinton Foundation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She also brings strong private-sector expertise, having worked in London at an investment bank specializing in renewable energy and infrastructure, and later at BP Alternative Energy, where she headed decentralized energy markets. This unique blend of experience in finance, climate, and energy gives her a strategic and pragmatic perspective on energy transitions.

Dymphna holds degrees from Leiden University and Peking University, as well as an MBA from Rice University. She has furthered her education at Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Management. A polyglot, she speaks Dutch, English, and Chinese, with additional proficiency in French and German. Having lived and worked in China, India, and Kenya, she has also collaborated with island nations across the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific.

Her career reflects visionary and inclusive leadership, mobilizing governments, investors, and entrepreneurs to make clean cooking a global priority and to actively advance the Sustainable Development Goals.