Eddie Rich has worked on the role of corporates in international development for over 20 years. He was appointed CEO of IHA in 2019.

Since then, IHA has repositioned itself as a values-based organisation summed up in the San José Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower statement that “going forward the only acceptable hydropower is sustainable hydropower” and the no-go commitment for hydropower in World Heritage Sites. He was instrumental in the launch of the Hydropower Sustainability Standard in 2021 and the establishment of the influential International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower. In 2022, IHA was awarded International Association of the Year.

Previously, he was deputy head of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) since the international secretariat was established in 2007, including a period as its executive director.

His prior experience included working as the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID)’s representative to Angola and deputy head in Kenya, and as head of DFID's corporate social responsibility team.

Together with the EITI’s former executive director Jonas Moberg, Eddie developed an approach to multi-stakeholder governance that challenges conventional developmental wisdom. It is summarised in their book, 'Beyond Governments: Making Collective Governance Work – Lessons from the EITI'.

He has degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of Westminster.

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