Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Ms. Mrema was appointed to this role by the UN Secretary-General in 2022.
Ms. Mrema is also co-chair of the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, aimed at guiding companies in assessing, disclosing, and managing nature-related risks and impacts.
Between 2020 and 2022, Ms. Mrema served as the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In this role, Ms. Mrema shepherded global consensus on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a landmark agreement to protect and restore the natural world on which humanity depends.
For over two decades, Ms. Mrema served in various capacities in UNEP, including as the Director of the Law Division and the Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division. Between 2009 to 2012, she served as the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, Acting Executive Secretary of the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (UNEP/ASCOBANS), and Interim Executive Secretary of the UNEP/Gorilla Agreement, all based in Bonn, Germany.
A lawyer and career diplomat Ms. Mrema has received several awards, including the Nicolas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law from the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law in 2021; and the Kew International Award in 2022. In 2023, Ms. Mrema was included in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people’s list and the Financial Times 25 most influential women list.
A national of the United Republic of Tanzania, before joining the UN, Ms. Mrema worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania.
Staff Position Level: ASG
Region: African Group
