Mafalda Duarte, one of the few female executives in the multilateral climate finance sector has been named as the next executive director of the UN’s flagship climate fund.
Portuguese national, Duarte, joins the Green Climate Fund from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), based in Washington, where she was CEO since 2014.
Prior to this, she worked on climate finance in top roles at the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
Duarte is replacing French UN veteran Yannick Glemarec, who served a four-year term at the helm of the GCF and is due to step down on 2 April.
Duarte was one of the candidates for the GCF’s top job in 2019 but was defeated by a shortlist of three white men.
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Her appointment comes as the board deals with its first complaint case following claims made by indigenous peoples in Nicaragua that a project to stop deforestation is escalating conflict and leading settlers to invade their territory.
Reacting to the announcement of her appointment, Duarte said she was honoured to have been nominated and looked forward to accelerating the execution of urgently needed climate investments.
In her words, “Developing countries are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. They can count on my resolve to support their climate aspirations in pursuit of a better climate future for all.”
The fund’s deputy executive director, Henry Gonzalez, will serve as interim director until Duarte takes over.
Story was adapted from Climate Home News
