Karien Erasmus

“Sustainability is both a way of understanding the world and an approach to solving complex challenges. As such, I am passionate about the role of inter-sector and inter-discipline collaboration to untangle the complexities of sustainability.”

Karien is a Sustainability and Climate Change specialist with over 15 years of experience in the African sustainability space. She is a senior manager in the BDO Risk Advisory Services Division, assisting to build and develop BDO’s sustainability service offering. Karien holds a Master's Degree from the University of Pretoria in Development Practice. This MPhil programme is affiliated with the Global Association of Master's in Development Practice, coordinated by Columbia University in New York. Her thesis considered responsible leadership and the application of greenhouse gas target setting methodologies in developing economies and it was selected for publication in the book Sustainable Development Goals for Society, by Springer Nature in 2021.

Karien’s experience spans development planning, sustainability, and climate change across various economic sectors. She has led strategic projects in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Peru. Her current core focus areas include sustainability risk assessment and strategy development, sustainability reporting, scenario analysis, climate risk and vulnerability assessment, climate adaptation planning and greenhouse gas inventory analysis.