Head of Programme, Climate Change and Biodiversity, UNEP-WCMC
Valerie Kapos leads the Climate Change and Biodiversity (CCB) Programme in its work on the impacts of climate change and related policy on biodiversity and ecosystem services and the role of ecosystems in climate change mitigation and adaptation. In addition to overseeing and managing the work of the large CCB team, her role includes overseeing the development of new projects and ideas, and liaising with counterparts in national governments, and with key collaborators, partners and funders. Her recent work with UNEP-WCMC and others has focused especially on analytical and other approaches for supporting the potential of climate change mitigation policy and action to deliver multiple environmental benefits, and on development and use of biodiversity indicators to support policy and decision making at international and national scales. Ms. Kapos has an extensive record of scientific publications. She holds a PhD in tropical forest ecology and for 15 years conducted field research in Latin America and the Caribbean on forest water and nutrient relations (Jamaica and Venezuela), and on the ecological effects of forest fragmentation in Amazonia.
