Adriana Zacarias Farah is the Head and Global Coordinator, of “Global Opportunities for SDGs” (GO4SDGs), at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Economy Division.
She joined UNEP in 2003 and is an international expert on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and resource efficiency. From 2014 to August 2020 she was the Regional Coordinator of Resource Efficiency, at UNEP`s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Panama, where she supported the design and implementation of strategies and policies on resource efficiency, green economy and SCP in Latin America and the Caribbean; and building new initiatives and partnerships with governments, private sector and NGOs. She is promoting the idea that the adoption of sustainable consumption and production patterns/systems and circular economy approaches provide new economic opportunities for development, as well as the opportunity to leapfrog to sustainability.
Adriana is also the Deputy Head of the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP), which is an intergovernmental mandate adopted in Rio+20. Previously, She worked 13 years at UNEP´s Economy Division in Paris, France.
Before joining UNEP, Adriana was a consultant at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where she coordinated the publication on “Towards Sustainable Household Consumption” (OECD, 2002). Adriana has experience in environment policy development and negotiations at both national and international levels. She worked as policy adviser at the Mexican Low Chamber (1999) and as Project Co-ordinator at the Mexican Ministry of Environment (1994-98).
Adriana has also worked with research institutes on projects related to sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Adriana has extensive experience in the NGO sector, with an emphasis on facilitating youth environmental organisations. She co-founded the UNEP Youth Advisory Council in 1999 (today TUNZA), and founded some other youth-based NGOs addressing environmental and sustainable development issues.
Adriana has a Masters in Environment and Development from Cambridge University, UK, and a degree in Political Science from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).