Marcel Alers

Background

About Marcel Alers

I am a multi-disciplinary development professional with 35 years of experience and deep expertise in energy (access, renewable, efficiency, finance, policy), climate change, carbon finance, fossil fuel subsidy reform, natural resource and tropical forest management, biodiversity, protected areas and environmental and social safeguards and EIA. I practice ethical leadership based on integrity, honesty, empathy, humility and transparency. I am multi-lingual and comfortable in working in multi-cultural settings. Key achievements from my career include: The African forest elephant survey that I undertook in Central Africa (1987-1989) provided the missing population data needed for CITES to list the African elephant on Annex I, contributing to stabilizing and recovery of African elephant populations in the following 20 years. Clear demarcation of the boundaries of Tai National Park in Cote d'Ivoire combined with a resulted with a management plan and subsequent donor round table that mobilized resources, leading to strengthened conservation of this National Park, a critically important biodiversity hotspot in West Africa (until this day). I produced the first environmental policy as well as a set of environmental and social safeguard guidelines and the first comprehensive social and environmental safeguard framework of the AfDB, aligned with the other MDBs. Set up and leading the MDG Carbon Facility at UNDP, in 2007 and running it for about 5 years until the carbon markets collapsed: an innovative public-private partnership that successfully increased the number of countries benefiting from the CDM while achieving development benefits. UNDP's corporate sustainable energy strategy (for the period 2017-2021 -"Delivering Sustainable Energy in a Changing Climate" and based on this got energy included as one of six corporate priorities in UNDP's Strategic Plan (2018- 2021). Leading the development of UNDP's sustainable energy portfolio reaching at its peak more than 200 active projects, in more than 100 countries, mobilizing a $ 1 billion in grant financing. Helped develop UNDP's social and environmental safeguard policy and framework. I helped rekindle the UN Energy network and actively shaping UN Energy's vision and work plan following the recent SG's Climate Summit and High Dialogue on Energy, and develop UNDP's energy access pledge and UN Energy's focus for the next 10 years. I am probably most proud of having had the opportunity to coach and help the professional development of several dozen colleagues over the years.