25 Mar Global Environment Facility’s CEO Visits CTC

We were honoured to host Carlos Manuel Rodriguez last March 25, the CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Mr Rodriguez was also former Costa Rican Environment and Energy Minister who pioneered the development of Payment for Ecosystem Services initiatives and strategies for forest restoration and ocean conservation.

During his three terms as Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica doubled the size of its forests, made its electric sector 100 percent clean and renewable, and consolidated a National Park System that has positioned the Central American country as a prime ecotourism destination.

Rodriguez has held various technical and political positions over the past 30 years. In the early 1990s, he worked as Director of Costa Rica’s National Parks Service and is also founder and board member of many environmental NGOs and tropical research institutes. Since the 1992 UN Sustainable Development Summit in Rio, he has participated in all multilateral environmental negotiations, as an expert negotiator in UNFCCC, CBD, and UNCCD, and participated in negotiations for the creation and implementation of the GEF and the Green Climate Fund. After his second tenure as Minister, he was Vice-President for Global Policy at Conservation International, for 12 years, working in 30 tropical countries in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

During Mr. Rodriguez’s visit, we introduced him to our marine conservation programs across the Coral Triangle Region, including the current program in Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area that is funded by GEF. We also introduced our facilities and exhibits at our Center for Marine Conservation. The group also had a sneak peek to our Escape Room SOS from the Deep.

Our friends and NGO partners from WWF Indonesia, Eco Bali, ROLE Foundation, and Starling Resources also gather at our Center during the visit. They joined on a lively discussion and shared their environmental management success stories on the ground. Moving forward we hope that we could strengthen the partnership for sustainable development.

Photo by: Yoga Putra/CTC