Yabanex Batista

Yabanex Batista is Global Nature Lead and Deputy Director of the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) at the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). He is a Puerto Rican and Costa Rican national with an MA in International Resources and Environmental Management from Boston University in the United States.

Yabanex brings over 25 years of experience in sustainable finance for conservation and development, international financial institutions, government relations and multilateral environmental policy in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

Prior to joining UNCDF, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF), where he led the establishment and expansion of regional financing facilities to support biodiversity conservation, protected-area management, and ecosystem-based adaptation. Earlier in his career, he held positions with GIZ/GITEC in Mexico, The Nature Conservancy’s international government relations department and Europe offices, the World Bank–GEF Unit, the U.S. Geological Survey, and IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) in Brazil.