(ARLINGTON, VA) Today, Rare announced that climate change champion, Paula Caballero, has joined the organization as Managing Director for Climate and Water. Caballero is recognized globally for her role in spearheading and shaping the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She has been a widely recognized player in helping to shape the international climate change regime. Caballero will lead Rare’s emerging global portfolio on climate change, with a special emphasis on networking and scaling community-led solutions for adaptation and mitigation in Colombia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mozambique, the Philippines and Small Island Developing States across Micronesia.
Caballero brings a wealth of experience, technical expertise, and perspectives to Rare, having worked on a broad range of sustainable development issues with the United Nations Development Program, the Colombian government, multi-lateral banks, NGOs, other civil society organizations, and the private sector. Most recently, Caballero served as Global Director of the World Resource Institute’s (WRI) Climate Program. Prior to WRI, she served as Senior Director of the World Bank’s Global Practice for Environment and Natural Resources.
“We are delighted to welcome Paula to our team. Paula’s tremendous experience in the development arena and policy expertise – at both international as well as national levels – will catalyze our efforts to advance climate-smart solutions in communities around the world,” said Brett Jenks, President and CEO of Rare.
“Rare’s solution-focused work and ability to inspire and achieve positive change across communities tackles the root causes of so many issues we need to shift,” said Caballero. “I’ve often said there should be an SDG18 focusing on behavior change. Time is short if we are to stem trends that are undermining our natural systems and human societies. It’s exciting to be a part of Rare, and I look forward to working partners around the globe to make climate-smart solutions our new normal in communities around the world.”
Caballero will help manage Rare’s cross-cutting focus on climate-smart solutions for helping communities mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Caballero will lead the development of burgeoning climate-focused initiatives including mangrove conservation and climate-smart agriculture.
Caballero’s work at Rare will also include a specific focus on Rare’s watershed conservation program, which is being piloted in Colombia, her native country. Colombia’s paramo and cloud forest ecosystems supply water to millions of people and underpin agriculture and industry across large swathes of the country. Unsustainable land use, coupled with climate variability and climate change, threatens this critical natural resource. Caballero will work to translate the combination of agile and innovative behavior change approaches, strategic partnerships and new forms of financing to find more grounded ways to tackle climate challenges through both mitigation and adaption.
Follow Caballero on Twitter (@PaulaCaballeroC).
ABOUT RARE
A 4-star Charity Navigator-ranked NGO, Rare is a global leader in the use of behavior change to achieve conservation and development goals. Rare inspires people to take pride in the natural resources that make their communities unique, while also introducing practical alternatives to environmentally destructive practices. Rare has trained more than 400 community leaders and government employees in 56 countries in campaign planning and social marketing, equipping them to deliver community-based solutions based on natural and social science, while leveraging policy and market forces to accelerate positive environmental change. Rare then works to scale that impact to help deliver the same kind of change elsewhere. To learn more about Rare, please visit rare.org and follow us on Twitter: @rare_org.