Our People
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Peter Govindasamy is Executive-Director, Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore. He has concurrent appointments at the Ministry of Trade and Industry as Director-General, International Trade and ASEAN cluster and Dean, MTI Academy. Peter had previously worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Peter has more than three decades of experience in public service and has held a range of senior appointments spanning foreign affairs, international trade, energy, climate and sustainable development. Over the course of his career, he has represented Singapore in bilateral, regional and multilateral negotiations such as the WTO, UN, UNFCCC, IAEA, ILO, WIPO, WHO and the WTO. He also served as Senior Adviser to the UAE Presidency of COP28 and was appointed by the UK Presidency in 2021 to facilitate the Ministerial Decision Text on Response Measures at COP26. He is co-Chair and founding member of the UNFCCC’s Katowice Committee of Experts on Response Measures since its establishment in 2018. Since 2024, Peter has also co-chaired the negotiation track pertaining to the interlinkages between the UNFCCC’s Technology and Finance Mechanisms. At the WTO, he chaired the negotiations on domestic regulations in services. He was Chief Negotiator for the Pacific Alliance-Singapore FTA. Peter has also served as chief negotiator for a number of Singapore’s investment agreements.
Peter is additionally an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Singapore). He is a Member of the Remaking the Global Trade Project (by Yale University and Fletcher School of Diplomacy and Law), Member of the World Economic Forum Climate Trade Zero initiative, and Member of the International Dialogue on Climate and Trade (by Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy). He is also a member of the ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanism Panel.
Areas of Expertise
International Economics; Development Economics; Energy Economics; Energy Transition; Environment, Climate Change, Sustainable Development; International Economic Governance; International Cooperation; Non-Economic Issues and Trade Linkages in International Economic Law; Implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals; Managing the Energy Trilemma; Analysis of the Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Climate Mitigation Measures.
WTO, FTA, Investment/BITs, UN, UNFCCC law and policy“Domestic regulations in Services: A Chairman’s Perspective” in Economic Diplomacy: Essays and Reflections by Singapore’s Negotiators, 2010
“Taking stock and working towards coherence: perspectives of a trade-climate negotiator” in ICTSD BIORES, Vol. 10:1, Feb 2016
“Economic Development and Climate Protection – colouring, texturing and shading of response measures in sustainable development” – Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies, Vol. 5:2, June 2017
“Bridging Climate Action and Trade Through Multilateralism Based on the Values and Principles of the United Nations”, RSIS Policy Report, October 2025