Julia Marton-Lefèvre

Former Director General of IUCN

Julia Marton-Lefèvre was the Director General of IUCN for eight years, stepping down in December 2014. Her prior positions include Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU) in Paris, Executive Director of LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) International in New York and London and Rector of the UN-affiliated University for Peace in San José, Costa Rica.Under her leadership, IUCN grew to more than 1,200 government and non-government Members, 11,000 Commission members, 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners around the world. Among her accomplishments as IUCN Director General has been the establishment of the concept of nature-based solutions which IUCN pioneered in the context of the UN climate negotiations.