Ayesha’s areas of specialisation include environmental economics and policy design, blending both qualitative and quantitative approaches to embed positive environmental outcomes.
Her core capabilities lie in the fields of environmental policy analysis and socio-economic assessments in both developing and developed countries. Ayesha combines analytical rigour and a highly organised work ethic with a flexible approach to tailoring financial mechanism and policy appraisals, evaluation and design to her clients’ needs.
Recent Experience
Ayesha has managed and supported technical research in a number of projects related to the development and implementation of instruments under the European Commission’s Circular Economy Package, with focus on enhanced waste prevention, reuse and recycling in the packaging sector and the plastics economy more generally. In the last year, this has included strategic work to develop a revised measurement method and guidance for municipal and packaging waste recycling in the EU, and support to reinforce the Essential Requirements for Packaging.
Related to this, Ayesha has led research for a range of national governments, NGOs and private sector clients around the world, working, for example, in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean to map the flows of plastic pollution in these regions and solve problems related to the life-cycle impacts of plastics and packaging.
She has also worked with private sector clients to implement projects that are in line with, or go further than, the ambitions set out by various governments. She has previously managed a multinational project to identify key markets for investment in recycling/biowaste treatment infrastructure at the EU level and has worked with key technology and systems providers to test the feasibility of innovative approaches to tackling pollution and waste through a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Ayesha has also spent time engaging extensively with key stakeholders in the various markets she works in, including on behalf of DG Environment of the European Commission, DEFRA and Welsh Government, in order to maximise value to her clients in developing cutting edge policy on Extended Producer Responsibility and packaging design criteria (Essential Requirements). She therefore brings a clear understanding of resource and waste markets, the key actors and drivers in these, and the market failures that must be addressed to ensure environmentally positive outcomes.
Career History
Ayesha has over 5 years’ experience in environmental consulting. She joined Eunomia after completing her Master’s degree in Environmental Economics and Climate Change at the London School of Economics. During her time at LSE, she worked as a part-time Business and Sustainability Consultant to the Urban Orchard Project, eventually inspiring her dissertation research on a valuation of socio-spatial benefits from common spaces in London’s council estates.
Prior to that, Ayesha worked as an Assistant Editor and Coordinator for Sanctuary Asia, a biodiversity and climate change initiative headquartered in India. Ayesha also holds a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in Economics from the University of Mumbai.