Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata is the Executive Director, Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future at Qatar Foundation 

Gonzalo is an ecologist recognized as a global leader in the promotion of sustainability, with an emphasis on innovative free market solutions to environmental issues. As executive director of Earthna, he guides the center’s mandate of enhancing Qatar’s role within the global sustainability policy ecosystem. 

His previous positions include Managing Director for External Affairs at Pluspetrol, Latin America’s largest private oil and gas company; Chairman of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel in Washington D.C. reporting to the Board of Directors; Managing Director of Sustainable Forestry Management for the Americas, a pioneering company in the development of carbon offsets; Head of Biodiversity at the Global Environmental Facility where he oversaw the US$4 Billion biodiversity portfolio; Principal Environmental Specialist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and Director and Vice-President of the World Wildlife Fund’s Latin American and Caribbean Program. 

Gonzalo founded Ecosystem Services LLC, a company that generates carbon offsets through avoiding deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. He also founded Wetlands for the Americas, an international NGO that became Wetlands International, where in later years he served as a member of the Supervisory Council and a Counselor of Honor since 2021. In 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Independent Oversight Advisory Committee of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for the period 2022 - 2024. 

He has acted as a consultant for numerous multilateral and bilateral agencies, governments, and NGOs. He is the recipient of several awards and recognitions, including the United States Forest Service Outstanding Achievement Award. He has published over 250 articles in scientific journals, magazines, and has authored two books. 

Dr. Castro de la Mata received a Ph.D. in Ecology and Population Biology from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States and holds a Master of Science in Biophysics and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru.