Unnikrishnan is the head of Climate Change at the Commonwealth Secretariat, looking after the climate change programme. Before Commonwealth he was leading Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) India. Before that he served the UN climate change secretariat (UNFCCC) as officer responsible for the Climate Finance and National Adaptation Plans (NAP) process for the Least Developed Countries. Unnikrishnan also had a long stint with GIZ India, as Senior Adviser, managing the climate finance and natural resource management vertical under Indo-German bilateral cooperation. UnniKrishnan is a development professional with a background in agriculture and climate science, with over 20 years of experience in Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation, Project Development and Implementation, Climate Finance policies, International Accreditation to Climate Funds including the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and expertise in climate vulnerability and livelihood issues in Agriculture, Water and Forestry in the Rural Development Context of India and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).