A brief profile of Marco Barbieri, Acting Executive Secretary of the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat

Bonn, 2 August 2011 - Marco Barbieri, who took up the post of Acting Executive Secretary of the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat on 2 May 2011, has nearly 20 years of working experience with the UN and UNEP. He joined the UNEP/ CMS Secretariat in September 2000 as Scientific Officer. In that capacity, he facilitated the work of the CMS Scientific Council, notably by organizing and servicing six meetings of that body, as well as several other meetings and workshops. In June 2008, he became CMS Agreements Officer, mainly in charge of negotiating new agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) under CMS and the servicing of several MoUs already in place. He also served as ASCOBANS Senior Advisor between 2007 and 2010.

Before joining the CMS family, Mr. Barbieri worked as Programme Officer of the Mediterranean Action Plan of UNEP between 1992 and 2000, where one of his main functions was to lead the development of the protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean.

Mr. Barbieri is a qualified conservation biologist and has acquired an extensive knowledge and understanding of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and the UN system in particular, over the years, including institutional and administrative aspects. He is proficient in English and French, and also has a good working knowledge of Spanish.