Green Finance Designer 

Since he was a child growing up in a farm on the slopes of an active volcano, Esteban was always curious of the driving force of nature and all living organisms. Esteban believes that our economic and legal systems take nature for granted and they don’t reflect its real value.  He believes that the same economic forces that are destroying our planet could be used to preserve it.

Esteban has been working for 25 years in the design and development of financial instruments that generate long term financing for terrestrial and marine conservation, ecosystem services payments, sustainable agriculture and nature-based tourism in countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Esteban is currently director of WWF’s Conservation Finance based in Costa Rica. Prior to joining WWF, Esteban spent five years in the World Bank’s Environmental Department, focusing on issues such as carbon emissions trading, natural resource management, and environmental user fees.

He holds a Law degree from the University of Costa Rica Law School and an LL.M. degree in environmental law from George Washington University, Washington D.C. (USA).