Carlos Manuel Rodríguez
Lawyer by profession, politician by choice, and conservationist at heart, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez was elected as CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility by its governing body, the GEF Council, in June 2020.
Lawyer by profession, politician by choice, and conservationist at heart, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez was elected as CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility by its governing body, the GEF Council, in June 2020.
Dr. Fonseca was the Director of Programs at the Global Environment Facility. Responsibilities included overseeing the portfolio of investments in biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, forests and REDD+, transboundary marine and freshwater conservation, chemicals and sustainable land management. A tenured Professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil, he was the first Executive Director of Center for Applied Biodiversity before becaming the Chief Conservation and Science Officer of Conservation International.
In February, Gustavo Petro, the President of the Republic of Colombia announced that Cali will be the host city for the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) to be held from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1, 2024.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean face significant environmental challenges, compounded by their vulnerability to climate change impacts. Addressing wide-ranging challenges including biodiversity loss, land degradation, deforestation, water scarcity, food insecurity, and waste management concerns in a lasting way are critical imperatives for these nations.
Incentives that are harmful to nature conservation are an important underlying driver of environmental degradation. Eliminating, phasing out, or reforming harmful incentives is key to generating global environmental benefits. In addition, reforms of harmful incentives, including subsidies, and alignment of positive policies are essential for maximizing the impacts of GEF investments and in the reduction of the nature financing gap by enhancing domestic resource flow toward the investment required for nature conservation and the alignment of public and private investments.