Ralph Chami, Ph.D.

Ralph Chami has over 32 years of experience as a financial economist, with 25 years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He has served as a consultant for the World Bank as well as for the private sector. He is the co-founder of Blue Green Future and Rebalance Earth, and holds visiting professor positions at Williams College and the University of Victoria. He is an expert in a range of macro-financial topics including remittances, fragile states, financial inclusion, financial market development, banking regulation and risk management. Ralph recently retired from the IMF to work on climate change and biodiversity loss, developing a framework for valuing natural capital, fauna and flora, to build an equitable and nature-positive economy. He has developed the field of “Science-Based Finance,” and is a sought-after speaker on developing nature-positive markets. His work on valuing natural capital has been featured at TED2022, TEDx Florence, NPR, National Geographic, Financial Times, The Economist, Washington Post, WEF, among others, along with peer-reviewed journals. Ralph has a BS from the American University of Beirut, an MBA in Finance and Statistics from the University of Kansas, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University. Ralph has also now been invited to join the Planetary Guardians and is the Chief Economist for WAVE.