Chair of the independent Technical Advisory Panel, Green Climate Fund 

South Africa

Caroline Petersen has 19 years of experience as a sustainable development professional, in her home country with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and internationally through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), World Bank, and Green Climate Fund (GCF). Caroline is currently Chair of the independent Technical Advisory Panel (iTAP) of the GCF, which provides the GCF Board with independent technical assessment of funding proposals from developing countries and private sector entities. Caroline specializes in reviewing projects that are protecting and restoring ecosystems for buffering disasters and sequestering carbon. She recently served as Co-Chair of the Independent Expert Group for the Nature People and Climate Program of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), which supports country investment plans for nature-based solutions to climate change, including land- and seascape restoration. Caroline has a background in supporting developing country governments to access vertical funds, including the Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund, Least Development Countries Fund and GCF, to help meet their international obligations in terms of the UNFCCC, UNCCD and CBD. Caroline has an MSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics, and is embarking on a PhD in Development Finance, focusing on restoration finance. 

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