Costa Rican conservationist Carlos Manuel Rodriguez took up his new role as CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). He aims to scale up action on forestry, food and land use, and biodiversity loss, and to support ambitious results from upcoming international climate and nature negotiations.
Rodriguez, an environmental lawyer and internationally recognized expert on financing for nature conservation, was selected for the post in June by the GEF Council, the multilateral trust fund’s governing body representing 184 countries.
Global Environment Facility quoted Rican as saying that he is humbled and honored to embark on this journey and is very optimistic about what the Global Environment Facility will be able to achieve working together with its partners to increase investment in environmental protection at a critical moment for the world economy and for society. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic has driven home just how fragile life is when nature is under strain. One simply cannot have healthy people without a healthy planet.
Prior to joining the GEF, Rodriguez served three terms as Costa Rica’s Environment and Energy Minister and spent 12 years as Vice President for Global Policy at Conservation International where he supported environmental action in 30 tropical countries in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
He was also a pioneer in the development of Payment for Ecosystem Services initiatives and strategies for forest restoration, ocean conservation, and de-carbonization. During his tenure as Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica doubled the size of its forests, made its electricity sector 100 percent renewable, and consolidated a National Park System that has positioned the Central American country as a prime ecotourism destination.
Rodriguez’s educational background includes a legal degree from the Law School of the University of Costa Rica, and a master’s degree in Environmental Law and Policy from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
He takes over from Naoko Ishii of Japan, who served two terms as GEF CEO and Chairperson and is now Director of the Center for Global Commons at the University of Tokyo.
