Company
IUCN
Job Title
Global Head of Nature-based Solutions, IUCNSchool
University of Rwanda
Charles Karangwa is the Global Head of Nature-based Solutions at IUCN. He was recently appointed to advise Her Excellency Razan Mubarak, IUCN President and COP28 High-Level Climate Champion on Matters related to Nature-based Solutions.
Before joining the IUCN headquarters in Switzerland, He served as Regional Head of Land Systems, Covering Forests, Drylands, Nature-based-Solutions, and Sustainable Agriculture at IUCN, Africa Region. He also served as Country Representative for Rwanda since January 2016 and was appointed Country Representative for Kenya starting on the 1st of June 2022. Charles has led IUCN Work on Land restoration in Africa as part of the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, Bonn Challenge and AFR100, he engaged both Governments and non-state actors to bring Africa’s commitments to land restoration up to speed since 2016. In 2020, he joined the COP26 High-Level Champion team as the lead for land restoration in Africa and worked to engage the private sector and other Non-State Actors for ambitious climate action to Race to Zero and Race to Resilience by 2050.
With more than 18 years of Experience in the interface between sustainable development, conservation and sustainable finance in Africa and Southeast Asia, Charles focused his work on Climate Change, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation, nature-based solutions, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable finance.
Charles holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the African Leadership University School of Business (ALUSB) with a focus on conservation finance, a MSc. in Poverty Reduction, Policy and Practice with a Focus on Environmental Policies from the University of London (SOAS), a PGD in Leadership from Colombia University Business School and a Bachelor of Development Studies with focus on Development economics.
Before joining the IUCN headquarters in Switzerland, He served as Regional Head of Land Systems, Covering Forests, Drylands, Nature-based-Solutions, and Sustainable Agriculture at IUCN, Africa Region. He also served as Country Representative for Rwanda since January 2016 and was appointed Country Representative for Kenya starting on the 1st of June 2022. Charles has led IUCN Work on Land restoration in Africa as part of the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, Bonn Challenge and AFR100, he engaged both Governments and non-state actors to bring Africa’s commitments to land restoration up to speed since 2016. In 2020, he joined the COP26 High-Level Champion team as the lead for land restoration in Africa and worked to engage the private sector and other Non-State Actors for ambitious climate action to Race to Zero and Race to Resilience by 2050.
With more than 18 years of Experience in the interface between sustainable development, conservation and sustainable finance in Africa and Southeast Asia, Charles focused his work on Climate Change, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation, nature-based solutions, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable finance.
Charles holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the African Leadership University School of Business (ALUSB) with a focus on conservation finance, a MSc. in Poverty Reduction, Policy and Practice with a Focus on Environmental Policies from the University of London (SOAS), a PGD in Leadership from Colombia University Business School and a Bachelor of Development Studies with focus on Development economics.