The Nature Conservancy (TCN) has appointed International Finance Forum (IFF) Board Member Frank Rijsberman as the conservation organization’s new Global Head of Policy and Public Funding, TCN announced on August 6.  Rijsberman will lead the global environmental group’s policy and public funding drives, liaising with governments and corporate and community leaders, and impacting climate and conservation policy in the countries and territories in which TNC is active. He will take up his new office on November 4 and will be based out of Brussels, Belgium.

"I am thrilled to welcome Frank to The Nature Conservancy!” TNC Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Morris said. “His extensive background in shaping global policy and public funding will be a critical lever to help drive the transformational change needed in this critical decade for nature,” she added.

Rijsberman brings over 20 years’ experience at the helm of international organizations focused on sustainability and the climate crisis, along with his extensive track record of crafting sound global policy, attracting both public and private funding, and forging robust relationships with governments. He has also acted as the Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), which is based in Seoul, South Korea. Under his leadership, the GGGI has become a crucial helper for its more than 70 Member States and partner countries, aiding them in formulating and implementing climate and sustainability plans and policies that are socially inclusive, and raising more than USD10 billion for their implementation.

Before moving over to GGGI, Rijsberman headed up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) - a worldwide agricultural research network - and the International Water Management Institute, a water policy research center based in Sri Lanka. He further spent five years at work at several philanthropic organizations in the United States, among them the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Google.org. 

Rijsberman first embarked on his career at home in the Netherlands, where he dealt with thorny policy issues surrounding water resources and coastal zone management, wetlands, sea level rise, climate change, and international development.

He has advised numerous major authorities and organizations such as the Dutch government, the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, the World Bank, and various bilateral development donors. 

TNC is a global conservation institution dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which every living thing depends. Steered by science, it creates innovative, localized solutions to the world’s most intractable problems so that nature and people can co-exist and thrive together. It is grappling with climate change, and conserving lands, waters and oceans on an unprecedented scale, ensuring food and water sustainably, and helping to make urban centers more sustainable. The group is striving to make a lasting difference all around the world in 77 countries and territories (41 by direct conservation impact and 36 through partners), via a cooperative mechanism that enlists local communities, governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders.