Enrique Paniagua

Policy Expert – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Enrique is advising the Nature for Development Programme, specially the Essential Life Support Area (ELSA) project, on translating scientific data into actionable policy frameworks at global and national level. Conducting policy analysis, creating policy documents, advising national authorities, as well as supporting stakeholder engagement are part of his tasks in the team.

Previous experience and expertise

Enrique Paniagua is a Policy Expert on nature-based solutions at UNDP. He has worked with the Nature for Development Global Programme at UNDP since 2019. He has formerly developed policy briefs to help countries raise nature-based ambitions in their NDCs and co-wrote UNDP’s guidelines on the inclusion of nature-based solutions in NDCs. He also works for the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), where he’s leading the creation of Costa Rica’s National Climate Adaptation Plan.

Prior to joining UNDP, Enrique worked for GIZ and the Ministry of Environment of Costa Rica, developing the National Communication on Adaptation. He also led a regional project to close the energy gap in Central America, aiming to provide off-grid, renewable energy to vulnerable communities. He has additionally worked in climate-smart farming projects and Disaster Risk Reduction. He holds a Master degree in International Development from the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), and is pursuing a second Masters in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Governance.

Recent work 

Enrique’s recent works include:

• National Determined Contributions of Costa Rica (chapter V)
• UNDP’s Pathway for Increasing Nature-based Solutions in the Nationally Determined Contributions
• UNDP’s Nature-based Solutions for NDCs Toolkit