Adriana Goncalves Moreira

A Brazilian national, Dr. Adriana Gonçalves Moreira is an expert in biodiversity conservation, climate change, and environmental sustainability. She is currently the head of the Global Environment Facility Partnerships Division. 

Previously, she was Regional Coordinator for Latin America and also lead of the Global Wildlife Program (GWP), which includes projects in 32 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America at the GEF Secretariat. 

She has worked extensively in conservation finance, sustainable development, and climate change, leading a series of large environmental and rural development projects and programs in Latin America for more than 20 years at the World Bank. She has designed and managed the pioneer Amazon Protected Areas Program (ARPA) and the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program (ASL), a joint effort by seven Amazon Basin countries to improve integrated landscape management and ecosystem conservation in the region. 

She has served as professor at the University of Brasilia and researcher at The Woodwell Climate Research Center in the United States. She was a founder and the first president of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) in Brazil.  

Dr. Moreira has acted as board member in advisory boards of national and international private foundations. She is a founder and board member of the Brazilian Women Leaders Network for Sustainability, which involves leaders from private sector, government, and civil society.  

She has received the Chico Mendes Florestania Prize and the Pirelli International Award for her work on conservation and sustainable development. Her work with the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA) received the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s inaugural “Development Impact Honors” award. 

She holds a master's degree and PhD from Harvard University, and a bachelor's from University of Brasilia.