Diego Mesa Puyo
CEO and Chairperson, GEF
Diego Mesa Puyo, an international leader in energy and climate policy, sustainable development, and international finance, took up the role of Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility on Oct. 1, 2026. A former Minister of Mines and Energy of Colombia, he brings two decades of experience spanning public and private sector leadership, economic policy, and the energy transition.
Before his selection by the GEF Council, Mesa Puyo was Deputy Division Chief in the Climate Policy Division at the International Monetary Fund and a Non-Resident Fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
As Colombia’s Minister of Mines and Energy in the 2018–2022 administration, he led one of Latin America’s more ambitious energy transition agendas, introducing market reforms that mobilized more than $3 billion in private investment and accelerated the deployment of wind and solar power from near-zero levels. He also played a central role in advancing energy transition and climate legislation and integrating sustainability objectives into economic and development policy.
Earlier in his career, Mesa Puyo worked as an economist in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, advising governments across regions on fiscal policy, natural resource management, public finance, and sustainable growth. He previously worked at PwC Canada on infrastructure finance, public-private partnerships, and energy policy.
A dual citizen of Colombia and Canada, Mesa Puyo holds a master’s degree in economics from McGill University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Concordia University. He has held the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation since 2012 and has completed executive education in environmental economics at Harvard Kennedy School.
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