Global Policy Forum on Natural Capital 2024

Beatrice cyiza is the Director General, Environment and Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment in Rwanda, overseeing the development and dissemination of legal instruments, strategies and programme related to environment protection, climate change and pollution control. Before joining the Ministry of Environment, she worked at Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture as the Administrative Coordinator for Academic Affairs, Extension and Applied Research.

Prior to that, she served as an Environmental Audit and Monitoring officer at Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) and also served as the Nagoya Protocol Focal point for more than 7 years. Beatrice holds a Master’s in biodiversity conservation from the University of Rwanda.

Bekele A. Shiferaw  is a senior Environmental Economist at the World Bank’s Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice working on the economics of natural capital and ecosystems services. He is currently the Program Manager for the Global Program on Sustainability (GPS). GPS is the World Bank’s Group umbrella program and Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Its objective is ‘to strengthen the production and use of quality data (economic and financial) on natural capital and ecosystem services to inform government and financial market decisions’. GPS builds on achievements of the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) program (2012 – 2019).  GPS has been hosting the Global Policy Forum on Natural Capital on various timely topics with interest to trigger dialogue on key global challenges including nature loss, degradation of natural resources, climate change and pollution issues for green and resilient development. Bekele has worked in global development with interest in economics of natural resources, agrifood systems, environment, and climate change issues for over 25 years, including in research, program evaluation, policy analysis and engagement.

Christine Magu  is a Senior Statistician at the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). She has held various roles at KNBS and has over ten (10) years of experience in data compilation and analysis. She is trained in the System of National accounts (SNA) and the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA), both Central Framework and Ecosystem Accounting, and is currently part of the team spearheading the production of SEEA accounts in Kenya. Christine is a SEEA champion and is the current co-chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Ecosystem Accounting in Implementation and Statistical Capacity Building. She is also a steering committee member of the Africa Natural Capital Accounting community of practice and is the current SEEA focal point for Kenya. Christine has a strong passion for research, data collection, analysis and validation and report writing on economic matters. She holds a Master of Arts in Economic Policy Management from the University of Nairobi.

Dr. Claudine Uwera is currently the Minister of State for the Environment in the Ministry of Environment. From April 6, 2018 to August 22, 2023, Dr. Uwera was the Minister of State in charge of Economic Planning in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN).

Before joining MINECOFNI, Dr. Uwera was the National Coordinator of the “Rwanda Natural Capital Accounting Program. She did her PhD in Environmental Economics in Sweden University of Gothenburg from 2008 and 2013. Dr. Uwera has been teaching at the University of Rwanda, in the School of Economics, since 2003 and she is still providing support.

Dr. Uwera has substantial experience working on Strategic Planning with focus on Green Economy and environmental economics issues in Africa and especially in Rwanda.

Mr. Dawit Woubishet Mulatu is a Natural Resources and Environmental Economist with experience working on climate, environment, natural resources, and development issues. His work is related to valuation of ecosystem services, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), water resource management, Forest & Landscape Restoration (FLR), and financial assessment of intervention to restore degraded areas. He closely works with the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) on Advisory and Analytical Services related to Resilient and Green Development, Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and Natural Capital Accounting (NCA). 

He holds a PhD in Economics (Resource and Environmental Economics) from University of Twente, the Netherlands, and Master of Science and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. 

Ellane van Wyk leads the Incubation and Implementation of finance solutions for the Sustainable Finance Coalition, and is a niche tax specialist who works in developing and implementing innovative finance solutions for conservation.

She drives on-the-ground implementation of fiscal benefits for Wilderness Foundation Africa, and is the Communications and Logistics Coordinator for the IUCN WCPA Sustainable Finance Specialist Group. She provides training on fiscal benefits in the conservation sector,has a background in commerce and education and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA). She has done extensive research on policy-making and financial incentives while lecturing Taxation as a module at Stellenbosch University for 20 years.

She  is regarded as an expert  in the field of  biodiversity tax  incentives and other innovative finance solutions.

Mrs. Emelyne Wright-Hanson is a Development Planner with practical experience in public sector budgeting, stakeholder engagement, policy development and mainstreaming biodiversity into the National Development Planning System.  Emelyne joined the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation in Ghana in 2010 working with the Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate and now with the Environment Directorate, one of the Technical Directorates of the Ministry. Emelyne is currently a Principal Development Planning Officer (analogous to a Deputy Director), working as the head of the Biodiversity Unit. She led the process for the development of the 2016 National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and the 2018 6^th National Report.

Emelyne holds an MSc in Development Planning and Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST, Kumasi) and a first degree in Planning also from the KNUST, Kumasi.  She is passionate about women empowerment and building the capacity of the next generation through mentoring and coaching.

Etijih is a Associate Statistician with the Badan Pusat Statistik - BPS-Statistics Indonesia. She specializes on national and regional accounts, environmental accounting, data analyst, socio-economic-environment research.

Engineer Festus Ngeno has made significant contributions to the field of environmental conservation and climate change management in Kenya. With an extensive background in engineering and a deep passion for sustainable development, he has played a pivotal role as the Principal Secretary of the State Department of Environment & Climate Change in Kenya.

As the Principal Secretary of the State Department of Environment & Climate Change, Engineer Ngeno has overseen and championed a range of transformative projects and policies. Under his leadership, the department has taken significant strides in promoting renewable energy sources, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and fostering partnerships with various stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and international bodies.

Gunnar Köhlin is the Director of Environment for Development. He is also an Associate Professor at the Environmental Economics Unit, Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg and Honorary Professor at the School of Economics, University of Cape Town.

He has spent 30 years working with applications of environmental economics in developing countries, including a dedicated PhD program in environmental and development economics. His research focuses on natural resource management and environmental policy analysis in developing countries. The applications have focused on forestry, energy, sustainable agriculture, and environmental strategies at the country level. Currently Gunnar is advising the AfDB on the implementation of Green GDP in Africa.

Chief of the Environmental Economic Accounts Section of the Untied Nations Statistics Division

Ilaria leads the UNSD programme on economic accounts which cover the methodological development of the System of Environmental Economic Accounts (SEEA) Central Framework and Ecosystem Accounts, the implementation of the accounts in countries, data collection on air emission and energy accounts and the coordination of activities. Prior to joining the Environmental Economic Accounts Section, she was responsible for the UNSD programme on business statistics and classifications.  She joined UNSD in 2000. She is originally from Rome, Italy, and she holds a PhD in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Juliet Kabera is the Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority, to which she was appointed in May 2020. Prior to her appointment, she held the position of Director General of Environment and Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment. Juliet began her career as an environmental management officer. Juliet served as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol in the years 2019–2020.

Juliet holds a Bachelor of Science with a major in Biochemistry from Makerere University, Uganda, and a Masters in Conservation MBA from the African Leadership University.

Kampeta has 16 years of progressive professional experience as an international development practitioner in both public and private institutions within Rwanda and the East African Region focusing on designing and implementing reforms.

She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Development Bank of Rwanda Plc. Development Bank of Rwanda Plc (BRD). As a public institution, BRD’s financial development objectives is focused on providing private capital to the private sector in priority sectors of the economy (i.e. Agriculture, Education, Energy, Exports, Housing, climate change and Special Projects). Its aim is to be the driver of private sector lending and de-risking instruments and be the main financier of medium and long term private investment. For more than four decades, BRD has been the sole provider of long term concessional finance to the private sector and financial institutions and has facilitated the emergence of innovative private enterprises in priority sectors.

Prior to joining the Bank, she was the Director General of the National Industrial Research and Development Agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. She served in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for over a decade including 6 years as the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury.

Kampeta has also served on the Board of Directors of diverse institutions such as PTA/TDB Bank, the East African Development Bank, Rwanda Eurobond Committee, GT Bank, the National Capacity Building Secretariat, and Rwanda Revenue Authority. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of Rwanda Bankers Association and Economic Policy Research Network

She holds a Master’s degree in Economic Development and Policy Analysis from University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song has worked in the field of green and grey infrastructure development and employment creation for more than 20 years. His work incorporates economic and employment policy, infrastructure development, nature-based solutions, public works programmes, social protection and Green Jobs. Since 2015 he works in the Employment Intensive Investment Programme of the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland as a Senior Technical Specialist on promoting job creation through public investment. He has a varied professional and international background, and before joining the ILO has worked as a Chief Director in the Department of Public Works in South Africa, as a University Researcher, an Executive Director of NGO, a resident engineer and as an independent consultant and researcher for various UN agencies and the World Bank.

Maikel is a Suriname national and holds a B.Sc. degree from Cornell University in the, USA and an MSc degree from IHE Delft/ Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, both in Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Martha Siregar is a planner at the Ministry of National Development Planning in Indonesia, also known as BAPPENAS. Since 2022, she has been dedicated to developing the Indonesia Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP). Martha is part of the Indonesian delegation participating in COP 15 CBD, where her primary focus revolves around Resource Mobilization, Financial Solutions, and Monitoring Framework. She plays a key role in managing BIOFIN to enhance financial solutions for biodiversity management in Indonesia. Additionally, Martha is involved in the development of the ASEAN Regional Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

Matias is Senior Economist at the World Bank. His work focuses on quantifying the benefits that humans get from nature, how to design instruments to influence individuals’ choices to enhance habitat conservation and diminish pollution, and on evaluating the impact of conservation policies on nature and human wellbeing and understanding how individuals and firms take their decisions to help to enhance nature conservation. His empirical approach includes work on microeconomic analysis, cost-benefit analysis, impact evaluation, and footprint analysis using input-output techniques. 

Before joining the Bank, he was an Economist at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a Senior Research Fellow in the Environment for Development (EfD) Center for Central America, which is based in the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center – CATIE- in Costa Rica, and he was an Associate professor at Economics College of the Universidad de la República, in Uruguay. He holds a PhD in Applied Economics in the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2013.

Dr. Misikire Tessema Lemma is presently serving as a National Coordinator for Early Action Support Project, Updating the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and Development of the Seventh National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which are the major undertakings in Post 2020 Kunming Montreal Biodiversity Framework. He has served as National Coordinator for several projects such as Updating the Ethiopian NBSAP 2011-2020, Development of Fifth and Sixth Ethiopian National Reports to the CBD, development of First Report on the State of Farm Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Mapping Biodiversity Priority Areas and National Ecosystem Assessment of Ethiopia, all of which are important in shaping the country’s efforts to ensure implementation of the three pillars of the CBD. Misikire has dedicated his career to advancing the country’s biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and development. With expertise in fisheries biology, livestock resources management, and environmental impact assessment, Misikire has played and is playing key roles in shaping national policies and strategies for biodiversity conservation. He holds a Doctor of Degree of Agriculture from the Georg-August-University Goettingen, Germany.

Mr. Moses Kaggwa is the Ag. Director of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.  He holds a Bachelors of Law Degree from Makerere University.  He also obtained a Masters of Law majoring in Tax from the University of Florida.  He has studied financial programming.  He progressed to the Rank of Commissioner Tax Policy where he has been instrumental in the reform of income Taxation, Excise Taxation, VAT and customs duties.  He was instrumental in the formulation of the Domestic Revenue Mobilization Strategy of Uganda.  He also worked as Commissioner in the Micro Finance Department where he was instrumental in the financial inclusion strategy and the formation of the Microfinance Regulatory Authority.  He has been involved in various development initiatives like the East African Customs Common Market and the EAC Financial Sector Development Strategy.  He is also involved in Policy Formulation, analysis and evaluation in various areas of the Economy.

Director of Macro and Fiscal Affairs Department at The National Treasury and Economic Planning, Kenya. He has over 28 years of experience in macroeconomic policy formulation and implementation from both the National Treasury and Economic Planning and the Central Bank of Kenya. He joined the National Treasury in 2013 having previously worked for 17 years at the Central Bank of Kenya. He represents the Principal Secretary, National Treasury in the meetings of Monetary Policy Committee of Central Bank of Kenya.

He has extensive professional training in macroeconomic policy and forecasting, monetary policy management, fiscal policy formulation and econometrics among others. Mr. Kathanje is Kenya’s Focal Point for the Human Capital Project of the World Bank.

Nicholas Oguge is a Professor of Environmental Policy at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP), Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi. He has expertise in conservation, biodiversity and ecosystem services, indigenous knowledge systems in natural resource management, and water governance. Over last 20 years, his work entailed encouraging and facilitating integration of science and policy, researchers and communities, and business and ecosystems. He was Chief of Party for the Economics of Natural Capital in Four Transboundary Landscapes in the East Africa Community Region Project, Team Lead in the revision of National Wildlife Policy, and a member of the Task Force on the development of climate change policy and law in Kenya. Currently a Lead Author with IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment, Lead in the development of natural capital accounting and payment for ecosystem services frameworks for Kenya, and recipient of the CLARE award on building climate change adaptation and resilience among agropastoral communities in Kenya.

Oguge is a Kenyan national and holds a BEd (Sc), and MSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Nairobi, and PhD in Animal Sciences from Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Perpetual Ifeoma Ikebudu joined National Bureau of Statistics in 2012 as a statistician II with Higher National Diploma in Statistics from Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nigeria was posted to work in National Accounts, Energy and Environment Statistics Department. She has a Master degree in statistics from federal university of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. She is the desk officer Crude oil and Natural Gas, Oil Refining, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products in her department, A member TWG(NCA) , they compiled Environmentally Extended Supply and Use Tables (EE-SUTs) for Energy in collaboration with UNECA, and also compiled the GHG Emission Accounts, Land and Ecosystem Accounts in collaboration with world Bank and UNSD. She currently works as a Principal Statistician.

Dr. Peter J. Dery, Director of Environment of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation is a lawyer by profession, a seasoned Public Administrator, and a Certified Chartered Environmentalist. He has received training on environmental law, policy, climate change, biodiversity, oceans, and sustainability from different international institutions including the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, the National Institute for Environment Korea, the International Development Law Organisation in the Hague National Development Planning Commission China and Many United Nations Agencies. He holds a Ph.D. from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration; He is a certified chartered member of the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Management (IEMA) of the UK. Dr Dery also has an LLM from the University of Ghana. Dr. Dery is the Policy Lead for several Multilateral Environment Agreements including the CBD and UNFCCC. Mr. Dery is the current Co-Chair of the Coalition on Climate and Clean Air and the immediate past Board Chairman of the West Africa Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use. He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Clean Air. He has oversight for the implementation of several environment, biodiversity, and climate-related projects in Ghana and has participated in negotiations and global discourse at many United Nations and other international conferences.

Philip is the Center Director of Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Africa where he leads SEI’s research and policy engagement on environment, climate change and development in Africa. He also serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board of the United Nations University – Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) in Japan. He has over 20 years of experience in applied research, project coordination, policy analysis, and university teaching. Philip holds a PhD in Geography from McGill University in Canada, and an MSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Dr. Simon Morgan, with over two decades in African biodiversity monitoring, leads ValueNature as founder and CEO, merging his conservation experience with innovative finance to create market-ready biocredits. His notable collaborations include a UK-funded Darwin Grant piloting biodiversity credits with the International Institute for Environment and Development and the development of a biodiversity credit methodology with Biometrio.earth. A key figure in conceptualizing the Biodiversity Credit Alliance, now a 300-member initiative backed by UNDP and UNEP-FI, Simon actively contributes to its Taskforce, and was recently invited as a panel member on the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits. His work also extends to Stanford University's Program for Conservation Genomics, where he is dedicated to making genomic tools accessible and relevant for biodiversity monitoring and conservation.

Soumya Balasubramanya is a Senior Economist at the World Bank’s Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global practice. She conducts original field-based research on poverty, development and equity challenges in Asia and Africa, at the nexus of water, agriculture, environment, energy, and health, using large sample survey methods. She collaborates with universities, governments, and the private sector in low-, middle- and high-income countries to influence research, dialogue, funding, policy, and practice on inclusive development. She is a handling editor for several journals, including World Development , Agricultural Economics, and Water Resources and Economics. She volunteers her time to mentor early-career scholars living and working in Asia and Africa through regional mentoring networks. Her work has been featured in media outlets such as BBC, Forbes, NPR, The Economist and The Guardian.

Sofia Ahlroth is a consultant with the Environment, Natural Resources & Blue Economy Global Practice at the World Bank. Sofia was previously employed as Senior Environmental Economist at WB, working with the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem services (WAVES) Global Partnership and its successor program, the Global Program for Sustainability. She has been supporting a number of countries to develop Natural Capital Accounting and integrating NCA into policy, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. She has a PhD in Natural Resource Economics and Environmental Strategy Analysis from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. Her work has focused on environmental-economic policy analysis, natural capital accounting and valuation of environmental impacts and ecosystem services.

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.

Mr Murangwa Yusuf is the Director General of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).  He is a professional statistician and operational researcher with 20 years of experience in statistics development. He has worked on a wide scope of statistics including: labour, education, prices, agriculture, population and censuses and poverty statistics to mention but a few.

As the Director General since 2009 he focused on building the capacity of the national statistics system in Rwanda and advocating for the use of evidence in policy and decision-making including in areas not previously given due attention like the environment, natural resources and climate statistics. He has also contributed in regional and global statistics development programs.

He’s recent focus is modernizing official statistics using technology and Big Data in statistics production to improve quality, timeliness and efficiency and establishing an enabling environment to achieve that.