Jose Maria Figueres

President Jose Maria Figueres is an internationally recognised leader in the achievement of sustainable development goals. He served as President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998, becoming the youngest Latin American head of state in modern times. Prior to this, he served as Minister of Trade and Minister of Agriculture.

As President, President Figueres created a comprehensive national sustainable development strategy combining sound macroeconomic policies, strategic investments in human development, and a strong alliance with nature. For his pioneering work he received the first ever Global Environmental Facility Leadership Award in 1998. Convinced that technology enhances sustainable development, he has made this linkage in the realms of public service, business, and non-profit organisations. He brought INTEL to Costa Rica, the only Latin American country with such a production facility, and spearheaded the creation of a national cluster of high tech exports. Together with Nicolas Negroponte and Jeffrey Sachs, Figueres established the Digital Nations Programme at the Media Lab, MIT. He later helped create and lead the UN’s Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (ICT), first as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the ICT Advisory Group and then as the chair of the ICT Task Force. In 2000, President Figueres joined the World Economic Forum as a Managing Director, and later became its first CEO. There he strengthened the organization’s multi-stakeholder approach by identifying common long-term objectives that brought together global corporations with social and governmental sectors. President Figueres is a Member of several distinguished Boards including BT Global Services Strategy & Marketing Advisory Board (United Kingdom), Abraaj Capital Advisory Board (Dubai, UAE), Grupo San Cristobal (Costa Rica), Dubai Recycling Park (Dubai, UAE), Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (Jordan), Earth Council Geneva (Switzerland), DARA (Spain), FRIDE (Spain), and International Advisor at the Global Environmental Action (Japan). In addition, Figueres is a Member of the Dean’s Alumni Leadership Council at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and Board Fellow at the Thunderbird School of Management. He is the recipient of numerous distinctions, most recently the Sustainability Award in Switzerland. Today he continues to work in the fields of technology and sustainable development, and is currently the CEO of Concordia 21, a social investment vehicle based in Spain, promoting development and democratic values around the world. While conserving his Costa Rican citizenship, President Figueres was bestowed Spanish nationality by Royal Decree in the beginning of 2008.