Senior Policy Advisor, UNITED NATIONS, Geneva

Postgraduate studies in United Kingdom, 1995

Josep A. Garí is a United Nations professional and diplomat, currently senior policy advisor for sustainable development at the UN in Geneva. He studied Biology and Philosophy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, receiving a PhD in Political Ecology from the University of Oxford. Josep has about 20 years of experience in international development, spanning the World Bank, FAO, the Inter-American Development Bank and UNDP. He has worked in situ in about 35 countries across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, in different roles that include designing projects, advising on public policies, training governmental officials and supporting civil society platforms. Josep has also served in multilateral diplomacy for agriculture and the environment, playing a central role in the negotiations for the International Seed Treaty and the Congo forest & climate agreements. He was programme manager at the Inter-American Development Bank, chief of the UNDP sustainable development unit for West & Central Africa, leader of UN missions for humanitarian assistance and rural recovery, and the first Africa coordinator for UN-REDD. He has also served in the FAO Ethics Subcommittee, the UN panel on human rights & the environment, and the advisory and executive boards of various international funds and programmes. Josep is an occasional lecturer – predominantly on development policy and green diplomacy – and sometimes serves as a public speaker for the United Nations. He is also an amateur photographer and a member of the editorial board of the UN Society of Writers.