Ivonne Higuero is an environmental economist with a career spanning 29 years in international organizations focusing on sustainable development. She is passionate about demonstrating the economic value of biodiversity to spur investment in nature. During her 27 years with the United Nations, Ms. Higuero has managed and provided oversight to the implementation of programmes related to sustainable development and provided secretariat services to intergovernmental bodies, particularly in the field of environment and biological diversity. With the adoption of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, she has been responsible for ensuring the alignment of a variety of UN programmes to support countries in meeting their international commitments, including through cross-sectoral cooperation. Ms. Higuero has experience working with UN Member States at the global, regional and national levels, and engaging with civil society and private sector stakeholders.

The Secretary-General is a national of Panama and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Missouri and a master’s degree of Environmental Management in Natural Resource Economics and Policy from Duke University.

David Vivas Eugui is Chief (a.i) of the Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development Branch at UNCTAD.

Previously, he was a Senior Economic Affairs Officer in UNCTAD’s Trade Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy Branch, Deputy Programmes Director at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Senior Attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL),  Attaché for Legal Affairs at the Mission of Venezuela to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Staff Attorney at the Venezuelan Institute of Foreign Trade. David is an international expert with more than 20 years of experience on legal and economic issues.

He has worked as an advisor and consultant for various institutions, international and national organizations and has lectured on intellectual property, trade, oceans economy and environmental law at the University of Strasbourg (CEIPI), Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Universidad Javeriana (Colombia), Maastricht University (the Netherlands), WIPO Distant Learning Academy, and University of Business and International Studies (Switzerland).

He holds a JD from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, an LLM from Georgetown University and a Master in Transnational Business from the Universidad Externado de Colombia.

René Gomez Garcia was State Minister for Public Works and Services of Bolivia (2003-2005). He was also Director of Hydrological basins and land at the Ministry of Sustainable Development in Bolivia, as well as the National Coordinator of the Capacity 21 Programme of UNDP. He has more than 27 years of experience in the implementation of irrigation programs in the United States and in various Latin American countries. He has also taught in several private and public universities in Bolivia. He holds a PHD in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California at Davis and a MS in Agriculture and Irrigation Engineering at Utah State University, both in the United States. He is a civil engineer graduated at the Technological Institute of Monterrey, Mexico.

Teresa Moreira is the Head of the Competition and Consumer Policies Branch, Division on International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD. She joined UNCTAD in 2016 and previously served as the Consumer Director-General of Portugal and as a Member of the Board of the Portuguese Competition Authority when it was first created. She also served as Portugal’s Director-General and Deputy Director General for International Economic Relations and held senior positions at the Directorate-General for Competition.

Teresa worked for over 20 years as a Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon in the areas of International Economic Law and European Law, as well as European Competition Law and European Economic Law at the graduate level.

Teresa holds a degree in Law and a master’s degree in European Law (European Competition Law) from the University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Rachel is a consultant in the Legal Unit of the CITES Secretariat, working on a range of legal affairs such as the national legislation project, compliance and matters concerning trade in marine species.

Before joining CITES, Rachel worked as First Secretary, Legal at the United Kingdom Mission to the UN and WTO in Geneva.  She has also worked on a range of international trade and environment matters as a legal adviser within the United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Born in Scotland, Rachel studied law at the University of Cambridge and completed legal training with Ashurst LLP in London and Singapore.