Gold Standard Staff Doubles as Local Experts Take up Posts
A generous grant from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature and Nuclear Safety has made possible the recruitment of seven outstanding young experts to stimulate the supply of Gold Standard projects by working with local stakeholders to reduce market entry barriers, identify high quality projects and build capacity for their development and implementation.
Six of these experts had already been recruited by mid-March (see photo) and completed two weeks of intensive training at Gold Standard headquarters in Geneva, prior to taking up their posts. A seventh, Ellen May Zanoria, joined at the beginning of May, and is receiving on-the-job training.
Mauro Fadda expressed the sentiments of all in these words,
I chose to work for the Gold Standard because I am convinced it is one of the best corporate efforts of our time to face the most sensitive elements of the global fight against climate change.
Each expert is profiled briefly below.
Neha Rao. BS, Environmental Science, University of New Delhi; MSc, Natural Resources Management, TERI University, New Delhi; MSc Thesis, Dept. of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Yale University. Prior experience as carbon advisory consultant for Emergent Ventures, India, identifying and developing GHG mitigation projects, and developing financial models and structures for carbon-backed financing of projects in India. Goals for Gold Standard - to promote the Gold Standard in the global carbon market and achieve sustainable development.
Contact Information: Mob. 0091-981-1873703; Email
Mauro Fadda. BSc, Biochemistry, Universidad Austral de Chile; MSc, Environmental Management and Planning, Universidad de Chile. Prior experience includes five years in the pharmaceuticals industry in Germany, private consultancies on environmenal standards and social and environmental impact assessments, first CDM project evaluator for TUV-SUD outside of Germany, and Principal Monitoring Manager for EcoSecurities in Central and South America. Goals for Gold Standard - to help make emissions reduction and sustainable development ideals a reality.
Contact Information: Mob. 0056-994433465; Email
Lwandle Mqadi. BSc Honours, Agricultural Econmics/Agricultural Finance and MSc, Agricultural Economics/Environmental Economics, Univeristy of Pretoria; Currently serving as International Fellow (Climate Change Group), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK. Prior experience with SouthSouthNorth working on micro-scale CDM project activities and climate change adaptation tools and methodologies in southern Africa and as Project Manager for EcoSecurities working on project origination and development of business partnerships across the continent. Goals for Gold Standard - to promote the use of the Gold Standard in sub-Saharan Africa.
Contact Information: Tel. 0027-82-899-7060; Email
Nahla Sabet. BA, Business Administration, American University in Cairo; MSc, Environment and Sustainable Development, University College London. Prior experience as Environmental Consultant in Egypt and subsequently as Origination Manager at Ecosecurities, focusing on CDM projects in North Africa as well as activities involivng setting of quality criteria and screening projects for the global voluntary market. Goals for the Gold Standard - to build the brand in both Africa and the Middle East and grow a pipeline of Gold Standard projects for both compliance and voluntary markets.
Contact Information: Tel. 00202-2671-1181; Email
Leon Wang. MSc Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Prior experience as project implementation manager for South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd, as validation and verification consultant and as greenhouse gas auditor. Goals for Gold Standard - to achieve sustainable development while implementing greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in China and around the world.
Contact Information: Mob. 0086-1391-1091230; Email
Ivan Hernandez Villegas. BSc Industrial Engineering. Prior experience with industry in fields of quality management, mechanical maintenance and environmental monitoring. GHG auditor for TUV SUD, leading more than 100 validations or verifications of waste handling and disposal, agricultrual, manufacturing and energy projects and control of fugitive emissions from production and consumption of halocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. Goals for Gold Standard - to promote high quality carbon offset projects in Mexico and Central America.
Contact Information: Mob. 0052-1818-0244912; Email
Ellen May Zanoria. BSc Chemical Engineering; continuing studies in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development. Prior experience with Ecosecurities and Trading Emissions PLC, including in origination of energy efficiency projects and execution of commercial contracts, as well as in project development, design, validation, UN review, registration and monitoring of renewable energy and biogas system projects. Spearheaded local implementation of more than 50 projects under the Clean Development Mechanism. Goals for Gold Standard - to help streamline the implementation of GS requirements around South East Asia and generate more premiere carbon projects.
Contact Information: Tel. 0063-22577166; Mob. 0063-9209149453; Email