Lila Karbassi-Zadeh

Lila Karbassi-Zadeh is the Senior Advisor at the United Nations Global Compact. In this role, she advances the UN’s agenda for a resilient, net-zero future by driving corporate ambition toward the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. She also serves as the Permanent UN Advisor to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) Board, acting as a liaison between the SBTi and the UN Global Compact.

Since joining the UN Global Compact in 2005, Ms. Karbassi-Zadeh has played a pivotal role in positioning businesses at the forefront of the UN’s sustainability agenda. From 2017 to 2022, she served as Chief of Programmes, overseeing initiatives on human rights, labor rights, the environment, anti-corruption, reporting, and finance.

In 2016, she worked in the Office of the UN Secretary-General, where she supported business engagement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Before her tenure at the United Nations, Ms. Karbassi-Zadeh held senior policy and regulatory roles at Sanofi-Aventis in France.

Ms. Karbassi-Zadeh holds an MBA from the Bocconi School of Management (Italy), as well as Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Biology from the Universities of Grenoble and Paris (France).

She is a French and Iranian national.