Exclusive interview with the Chief of UNCTAD, Chantal Line Carpentier

Dr. Chantal Line Carpentier currently serves as Chief of the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) New York office of the Secretary-General. Prior
to 2014, she was actively involved in the successful negotiations of the Sustainable
Development Goals for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(DESA). During her tenure with DESA, she served as the Major Groups coordinator to
enhance non-state actors engagement with the United Nations. She facilitated the
participation of more than 10,000 non-state actors -a record- in the United Nations
Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable development and was also the DESA focal point for
sustainable consumption and production, food security and sustainable agriculture.
Prior to joining the United Nations, she served as Head of the Trade and Environment
Program of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Commission for
Environmental Cooperation (2000-2007), as policy analyst for the Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture (1998-2000) and as post doc for the International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI) in the Brazilian Amazon (1996-1998).
Dr. Carpentier has consulted to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE)
and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
She was chosen for the Ideagen 2016 100 Individuals and Organization empowering
women and girl, is a 2006 Yale World Fellow and a United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) Who’s Who’s of Women and the Environment. She has co-authored
a book on Ethical Investing (2008) and regularly publishes journal, articles, book
chapters and Secretary-General reports on the intricate relationships between sustainable
development policies, trade, equality and agriculture.