“The world faces triple environmental crises of climate, pollution and biodiversity loss. At UNEP, we are delighted to partner with the Graduate Institute to foster multilateral cooperation on the trade and trade policies needed to promote green economies and sustainable development and to phase out unsustainable trade, production and consumption. International agendas on sustainable trade must respond to developing country priorities and advance progress on the SDGs, and will require more interaction between trade and environment policy communities. Based in International Geneva but with a global outlook and advisory network, TESS is designed to respond to these priorities.”

Elisa Tonda is the Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch at the UN Environment Programme.

Beforehand Ms. Tonda was Head of the Consumption and Production Unit in UN Environment’s Economy Division. The main goal of the Unit is the promotion of sustainable production and consumption policies, practices and initiatives through the engagement of governments, the business community and civil society organizations.. The Unit has also played a leading role in the strengthening UN Environment’s contribution to the greening of global value chains, and is currently coordinating the development of several initiatives in the domain of circular economy.

Prior to that, Ms. Tonda has been the Regional Officer of the Economy Division based in Latin America and the Caribbean Office in Panama City. In this function, she supported the UN Environment’s initiatives addressing Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production in this region. Ms. Tonda has also been the Officer in Charge for the Brazil office.

During her professional experience with UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), prior to joining UN Environment in November 2009, she was responsible for project development and management in the area of Cleaner Production and sound chemicals management.

During her former professional career, she worked in the private sector on environmental authorizations and permits, environmental certification including certification according to ISO 14001, the design of environmental service facilities including waste management facilities, the design and operation of landfills, the environmental impact assessments of landfills and mining sites, and the remediation of contaminated industrial sites.

Ms. Tonda has a Master degree in Environmental Engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy and in Sustainable Development from the University of London, UK.