Two years ago, planetGOLD launched as an innovative programme that supports individual countries in addressing mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) while creating an intentional global community of practice to facilitate sharing of experience, develop an evidence base for action, and accelerate progress among all Minamata Convention Parties with ASGM obligations.
This virtual event looked back at what has been accomplished since the global programme launched, and looked ahead toward plans for the future, including an expansion of planetGOLD.
View the full recording of the event below, as well as two videos showcased during the meeting. To see a full lineup of highlight videos for each of the 9 countries in planetGOLD, visit the planetGOLD In Review Highlight Reel page.
Event recording:
planetGOLD - 2 Years In Review:
A Message from the Miners:
Featuring:
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
Lawyer by profession, politician by choice, and conservationist at heart, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez was elected as CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility by its governing body, the GEF Council, in June 2020.
The former Costa Rican Environment and Energy Minister was a pioneer in the development of Payment for Ecosystem Services initiatives and strategies for forest restoration, ocean conservation, and de-carbonization, and is an internationally recognized expert on environmental policy, multilateral environmental negotiations, and financing for nature conservation. During his three terms as Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica doubled the size of its forests, made its electric sector 100 percent clean and renewable, and consolidated a National Park System that has positioned the Central American country as a prime ecotourism destination.
Rodriguez has held various technical and political positions over the past 30 years. In the early 1990s, he worked as Director of Costa Rica’s National Parks Service and is also founder and board member of many environmental NGOs and tropical research institutes. Since the 1992 UN Sustainable Development Summit in Rio, he has participated in all multilateral environmental negotiations, as an expert negotiator in UNFCCC, CBD, and UNCCD, and participated in negotiations for the creation and implementation of the GEF and the Green Climate Fund. After his second tenure as Minister, he was Vice-President for Global Policy at Conservation International, for 12 years, working in 30 tropical countries in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Monika Stankiewicz
Executive Secretary, Minamata Convention on Mercury
Ms. Stankiewicz is the Executive Secretary of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. She has 20 years of experience working on environmental issues, including seven years as the Executive Secretary of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM). She also served as the Professional Secretary of HELCOM responsible for shipping and cooperation with the International Maritime Organization. During her tenure at HELCOM, she cooperated with Multilateral Environment Agreements and UN agencies, such as UNEP and its Regional Seas Programme, the Convention on Biological Diversity, UNESCO, the International Maritime Organization, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Sargasso Sea Commission.”
Rosa Vivien Ratnawati
President, 4th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4), Minamata Convention on Mercury
Rosa Vivien Ratnawati is the Director General for Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste, and Hazardous Substances Management, Indonesia Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Ms. Ratnawati graduated from the Law Faculty at University of Indonesia in 1994 and pursued her Master’s on Sustainable Development at The University of Sydney in Australia where she graduated in 2000. She began her career at the Ministry of Environment in 1996, and served there as acting Assistant Deputy for Civil Law Enforcement and Non-Court Dispute Settlement, Head of Center for Bali and Nusa Tenggara Ecoregion Management and Head of Legal Bureau and Public Relation.
When the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Forestry were merged as Ministry of Environment and Forestry in 2015, the Minister appointed her as the Director of Tenurial Conflict Settlement and Customary Forests. In 2016 she was assigned as Director of Complaint Monitoring and Administrative Sanction. Since November 2017 she has been serving as the Director General for Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste, and Hazardous Substances Management. Since 2018, she has actively participated in all the meetings and negotiations at BRS (Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm) Conventions and Minamata Convention on Mercury. In November 2019, she was appointed as the President of the COP4 Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Carrie George
VP and Head of Sustainability & Impact, Everledger
Carrie George has been leading sustainability programs for over 15 years across companies including Apple, Brilliant Earth and J. Crew and across a range of raw materials supply chains. She has been recognized as one of the top 100 most influential leaders in sustainability and ethical sourcing for 5 years and was awarded a Distinguished Fellow from the US Department of State for her work in ethical global supply chains. Starting in 2010, she began a particular focus on small scale producers specifically artisanal miners in conflict minerals and battery material supply chains. As VP and Head of Sustainability & Impact at Everledger, Carrie leads our global sustainability and circular economy applications to improve the livelihoods of people and protection of our planet including engagement with artisanal and small scale miners in the gemstone, precious metal and battery supply chains.
Rob Wing
U.S. Alternate GEF Council Member; Acting Director of the Office of Environmental Quality, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Rob Wing is the acting Director of the Office of Environmental Quality (ENV) in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES). ENV coordinates development of U.S. foreign policy on a broad range of environmental issues, including air quality, chemicals, and waste management, U.S. engagement with a number of multilateral environmental organizations, and trade-related environmental cooperation. Previously, Mr. Wing was the Chief of ENV’s Environment and Trade Division where he was responsible for developing, implementing, and coordinating U.S. foreign policy on environment and trade issues, including development of Environmental Cooperation Agreements or similar mechanisms with U.S. trading partners. He also supervised implementation of foreign assistance designated for trade-related environmental cooperation programs.
Ludovic Bernaudat
planetGOLD Programme Manager / Senior Task Manager, UN Environment Programme Chemicals and Health Branch
Ludovic Bernaudat is Senior Task Manager in UNEP Chemicals and Waste GEF unit where he leads the technical team developing and implementing projects. He joined UNEP in 2015 and had been leading the developments of multi-agency programmes including the planetGOLD programme. Before joining UNEP, he worked for 15 years in UNIDO where he led projects on Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining, cleaner production and eco-cities. He led the development of the agency’s mercury programme. Additionally, he has been the co-lead of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership area on Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining since its inception in 2007. He has a MSc in Environmental Sciences and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Juha I. Uitto
Director, Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), Global Environment Facility
Juha I. Uitto has been a fulltime evaluator for more than two decades with the GEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducting and managing many evaluations at global, regional and country levels, in particular at the nexus of development and environment. Juha spent the 1990s with the United Nations University as coordinator of environmental and sustainable development research and training programs. He has also worked at the Nordic Africa Institute and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and held visiting positions at Kyoto University and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Educated at the Universities of Helsinki and Lund, he holds a PhD in Social and Economic Geography and has published widely in areas related to sustainable development, environmental hazards, and evaluation.
Miguel Morales
Senior Vice President, GEF Project Agency and GCF Implementing Agency
Miguel Morales is a professional with over 27 years of experience on issues related to conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in developing countries of the Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific region. He has worked extensively in multicultural contexts using adaptive management and rights-based approaches to design, implement, monitor and evaluate conservation and sustainable development projects, as well as building capacity for conservation practitioners, local stakeholders and decision makers.
Prior to joining Conservation International in 2006, Miguel worked for the Conservation Data Center, Fundación Moisés Bertoni, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in his native Paraguay. At CI he worked as a Protected Areas Management Advisor, Conservation Strategies Director, and Technical Director for the CI-GEF Project Agency.
Miguel holds a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development and a Ph.D. in Environment & Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Doctorate in Veterinary Sciences from the National University of Asunción.
Moderated by:
Claudia ten Have
Senior Policy Coordination Officer, Minamata Convention on Mercury
Claudia ten Have is the Senior Policy and Coordination Officer of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Her journey with mercury and the Convention began in 2012 to provide secretariat support to the negotiation process towards the Convention particularly on issues related to the financial mechanism and on support provisions for developing countries. She joined the interim Minamata Secretariat in 2016 to lead the preparation of the First Conference of the Parties meeting (September 2017). Claudia joined the United Nations Environment Programme in 2009, first as Programme Officer in the Law Division, and then working in various progressively more senior positions across UNEP, including as Executive Special Assistant to then UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. Prior to joining UNEP, Claudia was based at the United National University in Japan (2004-2009) working on interlinkages among multilateral environmental agreements, and before that at the South African Institute of International Affairs (1996-2000) working on international trade and development issues. Claudia holds a PhD in Public Administration, ICU, Tokyo, Japan.
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