About Robert

Robert Muggah is a globally recognized geopolitical strategist and keynote speaker. He works at the intersection of security, cities, migration, climate, nature, and frontier technologies. He helps leaders make sense of a volatile world — translating complex global risks into clear insights, practical strategies, and decisive action.

Over the past three decades, Robert has advised national and municipal governments, Fortune 500 companies, technology firms, investors, and international organizations on issues ranging from crime prevention, cyber security, and urban resilience to climate risk, nature action, migration, and geopolitical disruption.

Robert is the co-founder of the Igarapé Institute, ranked among the world’s leading social policy think tanks, and The SecDev Group, a strategic risk firm focused on disrupting digital threats and strengthening cyber security. He also co-founded Bioverse, a forest intelligence start-up working to protect critical ecosystems, and advises CivicNetZero, a climate finance accelerator.

His work spans the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest, and other high-stakes geographies where climate, biodiversity, security, technology, and economic resilience collide. He is a leading voice on the geopolitical trends reshaping business and society — from critical minerals and AI governance to climate security, cyber risk, organized crime, and the future of cities.

In 2026, Robert was ranked among the top thought leaders on climate action by Illuminum and awarded a Robert Bosch Academy fellowship. He has served as a fellow or faculty member at the Graduate Institute in Switzerland, Princeton University, the University of San Diego, the University of British Columbia, the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, and Singularity University. He advises the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report and the Global Parliament of Mayors.

Robert has authored eight books and more than one hundred peer-reviewed journal articles. His analysis appears regularly in leading global media, including The Atlantic, BBC, CNN, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, The Economist, The New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Wired. He has delivered TED talks in 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2021.

He received his DPhil from the University of Oxford and his MPhil from the University of Sussex.