The Natural Capital Forum

Event Moderator

Paul Steele is Chief Economist at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) where he focuses on financing for the SDGs and Incentives for an inclusive, green economy. He spent eight years with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Bangkok working with Ministries of Finance in Asia Pacific on climate and development finance and budgeting. He spent four years with the Department for International Development (DFID), UK focused on growth, poverty and environment issues in Africa and Asia. He worked for one year with the Ministry of Environment in Sri Lanka on a World Bank capacity building programme. He set up Economics For the Environment Consultancy (EFTEC) Ltd which is still the largest environmental economics consultancy in the UK.  He holds an MSc in Environmental Economics from London University and a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University.  
 

Day 1 - Integrating Natural Capital into Investment Decisions
 

Opening Session

As Global Director, Finance in the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation (FCI) Global Practice, Jean leads the World Bank’s work to promote the development of sound, stable, sustainable, and inclusive financial systems. His global team of experts works with governments and partners to make financial systems more resilient, to open access to finance for poor and vulnerable people, to support economic activity and to develop financial markets. Their strategy and its implementation emphasize development of digital financial services, addressing climate change and sustainable finance and creating opportunities for women by bolstering their financial inclusion. Previously, Jean led the World Bank’s Financial Stability and Integrity global team, which assists countries in building and restoring robust and resilient financial systems operating with integrity, transparency and in compliance with international standards and recommendations. He has extensive experience working on financial sector issues, notably in the Middle East and North Africa. Jean is a French citizen and resides in
Washington DC.
 

Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, UN DESA, since March 2019. Between February 2021 and July 2022, she was also appointed in her personal capacity as the Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology and then as his Acting Envoy on Technology. Ms. Spatolisano has over 30 years of experience in public service including extensive senior leadership in multilateral affairs. She has served as the European Union Ambassador to the OECD and UNESCO, Monaco and Andorra. She was a member of the EU Delegation to the United Nations, serving as the Head of its Economic and Trade Section, covering all issues related to trade, development and environmental policies in the Second Committee and ECOSOC; she also represented the EC to the Fifth Committee. Before joining the UN, she was responsible for International Organizations and Development Dialogue with other Donors in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Development Cooperation. In this capacity, she has assured the EU presence and developed EU positions on development policy in several international fora including the United Nations, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, OECD, G-7 and the G-20. Ms. Spatolisano holds a Doctorate in Law (cum laude) from Florence University, where she then researched and taught constitutional law for 7 years.
 

Professor Lee White CBE is Gabon’s current Minister of Water, Forest, the Sea and Environment in charge of Climate Change and Land-use Plan. Prior to becoming Minister, he served as the Director of the Gabonese National Parks Agency for 10 years having previously spent almost 20 years with the Wildlife Conservation Society, fostering sound governance of natural resources and fighting against illegal fishing, ivory trafficking, gold mining and forestry. White is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling and holds a Ph. D. on forestry’s impact on wildlife and climate change (Zoology) from the University of Edinburgh. In 2010, he was awarded a CBE for his services to conservation in Central Africa. His career in the West and Central African forest belt spans 35 years.
 

Alessandra Alfieri has been leading work on the SEEA at the UN for over 25 years. She has been leading the methodological development of the SEEA as well as capacity building and adoption and implementation in countries. She is the Secretary of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental Economic Accounting, an intergovernmental process established by the United Nations Statistical Commission to provide vision and direction to environmental economic accounting

A native of Italy, Cervigni has led the water resource management, natural resource management, and disaster risk management communities within the Africa region. His areas of expertise are environmental economics, adaptation to climate change, low carbon development, and regional development. Cervigni has been with the World Bank for more than 21 years and prior to his current position, he was the senior natural resources management specialist in the Middle East and North Africa region. He joined the World Bank as a research assistant and has experience working in the regions as well as the central environment unit. Before joining the Bank, Cervigni worked in the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance as a coordinator in the project evaluation division. He was also a research associate at the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment based at the University of East Anglia. Cervigni holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of London as well as a Master of philosophy majoring in economics from the University of Oxford.

Session 1:  Latest Developments in Incorporating Nature in Financial Decision

Moderator:

Fiona Stewart works for the World Bank's Global Capital Markets, Non-bank Financial Institutions group, which provides policy advice on pension reform to governments around the world. Previously, she worked for the OECD’s Financial Affairs Division for eight years and led the Secretariat of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS), an international body representing over 70 countries, dedicated to cooperation and research on pension supervisory issues. Prior to working at the OECD, Fiona worked in the pension fund industry. As head of American Express Asset Management in Japan she was responsible for investing $2bn in Asian equity markets, and, as part of an international team, for managing $20bn globally. She holds degrees from Oxford and Johns Hopkins Universities and a Chartered Financial Analyst qualification. She also served on the advisory board of one of the OECD’s own pension funds.
 

Markus Müller is Global Head of the Chief Investment Office of the Private Bank, Deutsche Bank AG. In June 2022 he took over the role of Chief Investment Officer ESG in addition to his current function. Markus is a member of Deutsche Bank's Group Sustainability Council. Markus began his career at Deutsche Bank in DB Research as executive assistant to the chief economist. During his studies at Muenster University in Germany, he acquired broad international experience with focus on China, later working as an Economist at Allianz Life Insurance in Shanghai. Markus has held teaching posts in corporate finance and economics, being a visiting scholar at the Frankfurt School of Finance and the University of Bayreuth as well as at the Banking and Finance Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tashkent. In April 2017 Markus Müller was asked by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment to join the advisory board of the “Carbon Bubble” project, which assessed and evaluated the risks of the transition towards a low-carbon economy for the German financial system. In January 2019 Markus Müller published his first book under the title „Neo-Ordoliberalismus – Zukunftsmodell für die Soziale Marktwirtschaft“ at Springer-Gabler. His recent book he published in May 2021 under the title “Deutschland und China zwischen Kooperation und Konkurrenz”.

Lucia Lopez is a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s Environmental, Social and Governance group. In her role, Lucia contributes on all aspects to systematically and transparently incorporate ESG considerations into its ratings. Lucia brings multi-disciplinary expertise in broader ESG issues through past positions as a corporate credit analyst and a banker.Lucia frequently represents the firm as a speaker through conversations with investors, policymakers and other market participants around the world. Before moving to the ESG team, Lucia was a lead analyst in the EMEA Corporate Finance Group since 2018. Prior to Moody’s, Lucia worked for over 15 years at a number of banks including Deutsche Bank and Barclays as a senior credit officer specialising in leverage finance and natural resources. Lucia holds a Masters in European Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Mr. Sepúlveda is currently the Head of Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) for the Ministry of Finance, where he has also acted as Senior Advisor since 2002. Mr. Sepúlveda obtained his BA in Commercial Engineering, concentrating in Economics, from the Universidad de Talca (Chile) and has a postgraduate degree in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Financial Economics from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). As Head of the PDMO, Mr. Sepúlveda has placed bonds for over US$150 billion in the local and international markets. Under his management, the curves have been extended, issuing longer bonds. In 2016, he performed one of the most important LM operation in the local market, with the aim to create strong references in both inflation linked and nominal curve. In 2017, he issued the first domestic Euroclearable bonds offered simultaneously to local and international investors. Additionally, in 2017-2018, he designed the structure and hired Chile’s first insurance against earthquake for US$500 million with the World Bank. In 2019, he oversaw the first issuances of Chilean Green Bonds. More recently, he oversaw the issuance of several ESG instruments, including Green, Social, Sustainable and Sustainability-Linked bonds of the Republic of Chile. As of September 2022, these issuances add up US$33 billion, which represent 28.7% of government debt.
 

Salima is Senior Research Analyst, 2050 Strategy, AB Arya Partners. Previously, she was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager for Sustainable Fixed Income, focusing on sustainable thematic credit, income and emerging-market debt strategies. Before joining the firm in 2015, she was a generalist portfolio manager at fixed-income manager Rogge Global Partners. Lamdouar holds a BSc (Hons) in banking and international finance from Cass Business School.
 

Discussant: 

Charlotte Gardes Landolfini works as a climate change, energy and financial stability expert in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department. She engages in policy, research, and surveillance work, focusing on emerging markets and developing economies. Prior to joining the Fund in 2021, she worked in the French Treasury Department as a Deputy Head of Unit in charge of sustainable finance and climate risk, and in the International Regulatory Policy Department of the French Securities Markets Authority. She is a PhD candidate in economics in Université Paris II Pantheon-Assas, and holds a M.Sc. in International Macroeconomics from Sciences Po Paris, a MA in financial and corporate law from the Sorbonne Law School, and a M.Sc. in Law and Economics from Université Paris II Pantheon-Assas.

Session 2: Scaling Up Nature-Based Impact Investments

Moderator: 

Avril Benchimol Dominguez is leading the blended finance initiative (Non-Grant Instruments) at the GEF with a portfolio of active projects above $250 million. The goal of this initiative is to test blended finance structures that de-risk private investment and help create innovative financial structures to combat global environmental degradation. The GEF blended finance window offers a wide array of financial instruments including equity, debt, and risk-sharing instruments to be used in environmental projects that are perceived as too risky for commercial finance alone. Avril has seventeen years of experience in capital markets and structured finance both in multilateral development banks and investment banking. During her eight years of work at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), she designed and executed capital markets and structured finance transactions supporting SDGs. She also led a green microfinance facility in 11 countries that facilitated microfinance clients’ mitigation and adaptation initiatives. Prior to joining the IDB, she spent six years working in investment banking for Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas in London, Madrid, and Brussels. Her main areas of expertise included capital markets and structured equity derivatives. In capital markets she worked in the origination and structuring of equity and debt transactions such as IPOs, rights issues, and corporate bond issues. In 2011, she received her Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, where she graduated with honors. Avril is originally from Spain and currently lives in Washington, DC.

Steve is the lead portfolio manager for Nuveen’s fixed income strategies that incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria and Impact investments, including those that comprise our Core Impact Bond, Short Duration Impact Bond and Green Bond composites. He is also a member of the Investment Committee. Steve serves on the ICMA Green Bond Principles Advisory Council and was a member of the initial executive committee. He is a member of the UN Capital Development Fund’s working group on Climate Insurance Linked Resilient Infrastructure Finance and serves on the UN’s Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund’s Blue Economy Investor Advisory Group. He also serves on S&P’s Global Ratings ESG Leadership Council. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and a subject matter expert across media outlets, such as Bloomberg, CNBC, The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. He and his team were awarded “Investor of the Year” at Environmental Finance’s 2020 Bond Awards. Before joining the firm in 2004, he held roles at Nationwide Mutual Insurance and Protective Life. Steve graduated with a B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an M.B.A. in Finance and Operations from Wake Forest University. He holds the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Society of North Carolina and the CFA Institute.
 

Thierry Watrin is the Green Economy and Climate Change Advisor to the Minister of State in Charge of Economic Planning, in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda. With more than 10 years of experience across finance and energy Thierry brings crosscutting perspectives to green economy and skills from high-level public and private sectors. Within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda, he contributes to the strategic development of a National Green Economy. In this capacity, he is working on the transition to a decarbonized, sustainable, and socially responsible economy. Thierry holds three Masters degrees, in Central Engineering, in Business and in Finance, along with an executive certificate in Renewable Energy Management from the University of Saint-Gallen Switzerland.
 

Passionate about translating science for business and governments, for food and nature systems transformation. In 2021, I set up my own freelance operations, working mostly as independent science advisor to the One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) Coalition, and expert for the Zeus & Gaïa platform of experts in ecological transition, advising companies at C-Suite level on how environmental science can guide their ecological transition. I also served half-time in 2021 as technical director a.i. of the Science Based Targets Network. After a decade long researcher career in Morocco and France, I worked with FAO before returning to Cemagref from 2003 to 2009 as its Director of European and International Affairs. In 2009, I joined CGIAR, the coordination of international agricultural research, as the Director of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, then in 2014, as the Director of Strategic Partnerships of the CGIAR Consortium. I moved to the private sector in 2018 as Food & Nature Science and Partnerships Director with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), where I was involved in the design of OP2B. With an agricultural and environmental engineer degree from AgroParisTech, and a PhD in Water Sciences and Bioclimatology from the University of Montpellier, I have authored and co-authored more than forty refereed papers. I am now both a Consulting Professor with AgroParisTech and a freelance consultant.

Charlotte Kaiser serves as BTG’s first Head of Impact Finance, where she leads efforts to source, structure and execute impact-focused transactions, as well as build and strengthen partnerships with the conservation community and other key stakeholders, lead impact-focused capital formation efforts, and support impact-focused investment initiatives across TIG’s US$ 4.9 billion investment portfolio. Prior to joining TIG, Charlotte served as Managing Director of NatureVest at The Nature Conservancy (TNC). NatureVest is TNC’s impact investment team charged with creating and transacting deals that can deliver both conservation results and financial returns for investors. During Charlotte’s tenure, TNC grew its impact investment portfolio to more than US$ 2.5 billion of capital committed to conservation transactions aiming to deliver benefits for people and the planet. A former community development banker, Charlotte holds a BA from Harvard University in Environmental Science and Public Policy, a Masters in Environmental Science from the Yale School of the Environment, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

Madeleine’s FirstRand portfolio includes environmental and social risk management, climate-related risk and opportunity management, climate/green finance and positive impact banking and investment. She has been with the Group for 19 years. Her professional background includes environmental science, risk management, climate risk management and environmental law. One of primary roles is to ensure that FirstRand is positioned as one of the global thought leaders in climate change, natural capital management, positive impact finance, responsible investment and sustainable development finance. Madeleine attended the Business and Sustainability Programme in 2011, and has since encouraged and enabled the participation of a number of her team and colleagues in the Sustainability Practitioners Programme and Business Sustainability Management online course. She is an eternal student and an international speaker and has taken leadership roles in the Global Steering Committee and other board committees of UNEPFI (United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative), the South African Advisory Committee on Environment and Society (National Business Initiative), the NBI Advisory Committee on Green Finance, the Programme for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) and the Sustainable Finance Forum & Climate Risk Committee of the South African Banking Association (BASA)
 

Discussant:

Jingdong Hua was appointed as Vice-Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in August 2022, effective 1 October 2022. Mr. Hua brings a wealth of international finance and development expertise to the ISSB. He is the former Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, where his responsibilities included green bond initiatives and sustainable finance capacity-building programmes. He also served as the Administrator of the World Bank Group Pension Fund. Before joining the World Bank, he served as Vice President and Treasurer of the International Finance Corporation, where he led innovative bond issuances in several emerging markets. He has also previously served as Deputy Treasurer of the Asian Development Bank and has held positions at the United Nations Development Programme and the African Development Bank.

Day 2 - Natural Capital Informing Policy Decisions 
 

Session 1: Shaping Policy and Institutional Enabling Environment for Natural Capital Investing

Moderator:

Alessandra Alfieri has been leading work on the SEEA at the UN for over 25 years. She has been leading the methodological development of the SEEA as well as capacity building and adoption and implementation in countries. She is the Secretary of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental Economic Accounting, an intergovernmental process established by the United Nations Statistical Commission to provide vision and direction to environmental economic accounting.
 

Rutger Hoekstra is Associate Professor at Institute for Environmental Studies (CML) of Leiden University. He has a PhD in environmental economics and is specialized in Natural Capital Accounting and metrics for wellbeing, inclusion and sustainability (“Beyond-GDP”). He has worked with/for Statistics Netherlands, United Nations, OECD, World Bank, European Commission, European Central Bank, various ministries, NGO’s, KPMG and large companies. At KPMG he was Scientific Director of True Value methodology which was used to help corporate clients measure their social and environmental impacts using the True Value methodology. In 2019, Cambridge University Press published his book “Replacing GDP by 2030: Towards a common language for wellbeing and sustainability”. Currently he is the coordinator of a EU project “WISE Horizons” which aims to promote Beyond-GDP metrics, accounts, models and policies. 
 

Onno van den HeuvelOnno is the Global Manager for UNDP-BIOFIN – the Biodiversity Finance Initiative, joining the initiative in 2013. BIOFIN works in 41 countries to design and implement national Biodiversity Finance Plans, utilising over 150 biodiversity financing solutions. He co-developed the Catalogue of Biodiversity Finance Solutions – the first ever classification of financing mechanisms used around the world for biodiversity. He is the co-author of the BIOFIN Workbook and numerous other publications and articles in the field of biodiversity finance and conservation. His past work includes a 4-year tenure at UNDP Mongolia, responsible for protected area finance, community-based conservation and environmental governance. He also worked in Mongolia as a policy expert for the establishment of a Clean Air Fund and at UN-HABITAT’s Regional Office for Africa and Arab States in Nairobi, Kenya. Onno holds a master’s degree in Economic Geography from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands.
 

Mr. Zachary Chege is the former immediate Director General of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), a position he held for a period of 8 years. He is also a former chairperson of the United Nations Statistics Commission (UNSC), the apex global decision making body for official statistical activities. He was appointed to serve in this position for a period of two years during the 49^th session of the UNSC meeting held in New York in 2017, after serving as a Vice Chair. Mr. Chege holds a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Economic Policy Management from Makerere University, Uganda and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics, First Class Honors, from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He has over 30 years’ experience in the public service with vast expertise in official statistics, public policy analysis, planning, budgeting, project management and strategic management. Mr. Chege has spearheaded implementation of several surveys and censuses in Kenya including the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census that was the first digital census to be successful conducted in Kenya. As Director General, he reorganized KNBS for efficient delivery of services and incorporated strategies to enhance data quality across the National Statistical System (NSS). He has also coordinated preparation of various publications, including annual Economic Survey and Statistical Abstract reports, quarterly Gross Domestic Product and Balance of Payments reports, Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey reports and Socio-Economic Atlas.  Mr. Chege has also worked with the African Centre for Statistics (ACS) at Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), coordinating the work on modernization and transformation of national statistical systems and official statistics in Africa.

Elizabeth Lien is Senior Advisor for International Climate Finance in the Department of the Treasury’s Climate Hub, where she works to elevate international climate policy throughout the Department.  Prior to joining the Climate Hub, she was the Director of Treasury’s Office of International Development Policy where she oversaw U.S. participation on the Boards of the Green Climate Fund, Climate Investment Funds, Global Environment Facility, Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).  She previously worked as counselor to the U.S. Executive Director at the Inter-American Development Bank and as Deputy Director in the Treasury Department’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs.  She also worked with interagency and international partners on designing the Green Climate Fund while working in Treasury’s Environment and Energy Office. Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Lien oversaw foreign assistance and domestic civil works budgets at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and worked as the appropriations liaison in OMB’s office of Legislative Affairs.  She holds two Masters of Arts degrees in Public Affairs (Public Policy) and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Public Relations from the University of Minnesota.

Ian Carruthers became Chair of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) in 2016, having been a Board Member since 2010. As a Board Member he led IPSASB’s work on Long Term Financial Sustainability and alignment between IPSASB and Government Finance Statistics. IPSAS issued during Ian’s chairmanship so far include those on Social Benefits and Financial Instruments. Having completed his second term (2019 – 2021), Ian has been reappointed as IPSASB Chair for a third term through to the end of 2024. After joining HM Treasury from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999, Ian played a key role in the UK Government’s transition from cash to accrual budgeting and reporting, in particular leading its Whole of Government Accounts program. He joined CIPFA in 2006. As part-time Chair, CIPFA Standards, Ian has been involved in all aspects of the Institute’s guidance development activities, including leading its work on the Role of the Public Services CFO, and the development of the International Framework for Good Governance in the Public Sector in partnership with IFAC.

Discussant:

Mark Gough is the CEO of the Capitals Coalition, a global collaboration of business, governments and civil society that is transforming the way decisions are made by including the value provided by nature and people. Previously, Mark led the Natural Capital Coalition and was on the board of the Social and Human Capital Coalition. He championed and delivered the uniting of these two communities, creating a unified, systemic, collaborative approach. Mark has worked extensively in the private sector, leading programs and strategy for the Crown Estate and Reed Elsevier (now RELX), as well as advising many more. Among other board and advisory positions, Mark is on the Steering Committee for the Global Commons Alliance and the Advisory Board for TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity).

Session 2: The Role of Ministries of Finance in Enabling Natural Capital Financing

Moderator:

Svetlana Klimenko is an advisor at the World Bank Group. She has extensive experience and internationally recognised expertise in the areas of financial and non-financial corporate and governments reporting. Over years, she has led World Bank engagement with the IPSAB, IFRS Foundation and other key stakeholders contributing within the global standard-setting landscape. She has actively contributed to the process and consultations leading to the set-up of the International Sustainability Standards Board and coordinates the WB sustainability reporting agenda. Svetlana is a FCCA and CPA.
 

Pekka Morén is (since 2020) the Special Representative of Finance Minister on Climate Action, acting full time as a Co-Chair of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action as the Sherpa of Finance Minister. In this capacity, he represents the Minister at high-level events and re-ports to the Minister. He also represents (since 2016) Finland at the Nordic Investment Bank as Member of the Board of Directors. Previously, he acted as the Director on International Financial Affairs (2016-2020) and the Director in charge of Euro Area Stability (2011-2016) at the Finance Ministry. Prior to this, he was a Special Advisor on EU Financial Stability and Crisis Management issues, during the early stages of the in-ternational financial crisis (2008-2010). He served as Economist at the European Commission in Brussels, at the Secretariat of Economic and Financial Committee, Economic Policy Committee and Eurogroup between 2003 and 2008. Prior to this, he acted as the Director responsible for the Stabil-ity of the Financial Markets (2001-2003) at the Finance Ministry. He holds a Master´s Degree (1995) in Social Sciences (Economics) at the University of Helsinki. He studied Economics at the University of Edinburgh in 1991-1992.

Dr. Sam Mugume Koojo is a macroeconomic policy analyst, development planner and researcher with over 25 years of community development work and research on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. He holds a PhD and Masters degree in Natural Resource Management (Environment Economics) and Bachelors of Statistics.

Masyita Crystallin is currently serving as a Special Advisor to the Minister of the Finance Republic of Indonesia on Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policy, with diverse experience prior to joining the Finance Ministry. She is the Sherpa for the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action where the Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati serves as co-chair together with Finance Minister of Finland and Indonesia Investment Authority’s spokesperson. At University of Indonesia, she serves as a Senior Researcher at the Demographic Institute. Prior to joining the ministry, Masyita served as the Chief Economist for DBS Indonesia, leading macroeconomics, fiscal, and market analysis. She also acted and served as a Macroeconomist at the Macro-Fiscal Management team at the World Bank and was part of the core economist team supporting Indonesia’s Fiscal Policy Agency. She carried out duties on various positions within the government, as macroeconomic policy special advisor to the Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs focusing on accelerating the nation’s infrastructure and tourism development, she was also part of the National Team for the Enhancement of Exports and Investment led by the Coordinating Ministers of Economic Affairs previously. Masyita holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Claremont Graduate University, USA, specialized in International Monetary and Finance in 2015. She completed her Master’s Degree at the Australian National University in International Development Economics and received her bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Economics, the University of Indonesia, where she started her career as a lecturer.
 

Irene Alvarado-Quesada is head of the Environmental Statistics Unit of the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR). Irene holds a MSc. in International Development and an PhD in Environmental Economics, both from Wageningen University in The Netherlands. Her areas of expertise are game theory, environmental statistics, biodiversity conservation and environmental accounting. Irene has conducted research on market-based mechanisms for biodiversity conservation, international environmental agreements and spatial economic analysis.

Serina became Deputy Director of the Global Issues and Governance team in October 2021, overseeing the end of UK G7 Presidency, delivering COP26 Finance Day and building up the Global Health and International Climate and Environment capability. As part of her climate finance responsibilities, she is the UK's Sherpa for the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. Serina has a MSc in Environmental Economics and a background in climate and environment issues, working in both the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on natural environment and waste policy and creating the Responsible Business Team in DFID (Now part of FCDO). Before the civil service, Serina had a long career in private finance working for Nomura and Prudential Plc and as a Chartered Financial Analyst. 
 

Discussant:

Diji Chandrasekharan Behr is a Lead Environmental Economist in the World Bank’s Africa East and South Region. In her current position, Diji works on climate change, natural resources and environment. Her work looks at how sustainable use of natural assets, including ecosystem services, can contribute to jobs and growth, sectoral and whole-of-economy measures for addressing climate change and environmental challenges, and mobilizing financing for climate and nature. At the World Bank, Diji has led multisectoral investment operations and analytical studies focused on, among other things, climate adaptation and mitigation, green growth, optimizing productive use of natural assets, and SME development. Diji has worked in several countries in Africa, South East Asia, Latin America, South Asia, and Europe and Central Asia. Diji has an MSc in Applied and Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in Natural Resource Management and Policy from Cornell University.


Closing Session

Valerie Hickey is a Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy (ENB) at the World Bank. Prior to that she was a manager for Advisory and Operations in the Climate Change Group, where she oversaw the implementation of the World Bank’s commitments on climate change, climate mainstreaming and climate finance, and before that the Practice Manager for ENB in Latin America and the Caribbean where she managed a cross-sectoral team that supported countries and communities on issues related to climate change, sustainable forest management, integrated conservation and development, integrated coastal zone management, fisheries, pollution management and environmental health, environmental economics and environmental risk management. Nineteen years ago, Valerie joined the World Bank as a specialist in East Asia and the Pacific, working on environment and rural development projects in Cambodia, China and Lao. Valerie has since worked across the Bank’s regions providing design and implementation support to a variety of operations, including in fragile states, where she led the Bank’s environment portfolio in Haiti following the earthquake in 2010. After joining the World Bank's global team, Valerie became chair of the blue economy, biodiversity and wildlife crime communities of practice and convened the Bank’s deep technical expertise in pursuit of providing policy advice and implementation support to accelerate the role of natural resource management in getting people out of poverty and into the middle class. Valerie also managed the Bank’s natural resources and environment risk management portfolio across Europe and Central Asia. Before joining the World Bank, Valerie worked for World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society and the US National Park Service where she worked on invasive species programs in Lake Mead, the reservoir to the Hoover Dam. Valerie holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University.
 

Stefan Schweinfest was appointed Director of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD/DESA) in July 2014. Under his leadership, the Division compiles and disseminates global statistical information, develops standards and norms for statistical activities including the integration of geospatial, statistical and other information, and supports countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical and geospatial systems. Stefan Schweinfest started his career joining the Statistics Division in 1989 in the area of national accounting. He subsequently worked in various other areas, such as statistical capacity building programmes, and indicator frameworks. For many years, he was also responsible for external relationships of the Division, both with member countries as well as with international partner organizations. He has been the substantive secretary of two intergovernmental bodies, the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) since 2002, and the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UNGGIM) since 2011. Stefan Schweinfest studied Mathematical Economics at the Universities of Wuerzburg and Bonn in Germany. He holds a Diplome D'Etudes Approfondies (Masters equivalent) from the University of Paris in these fields. He also conducted postgraduate research at the London School of Economics (LSE). In his private time, he likes to sing and has performed numerous concerts with his chorus in Carnegie Hall. He is also a passionate marathon runner and loves to hit the road all over the world.

 

Report: How Natural Capital Accounting Can Help Accelerate Finance for Nature

Background Note: Financing for Nature

Report: An Overview of Nature-Related Risksand Potential Policy Actions for Ministries of Finance: Bending The Curve of Nature Loss

Feature Story: 6th Policy Forum on Natural Capital Data for Better Decision Making (video recordings of sessions are included)

Blog: Four action areas to help close the gap in nature finance 
(registration is required)