Ludgarde Coppens

Dr. Ludgarde Coppens is Head of the SDG and Environment Statistics Unit, Science Division, UN Environment.  Prior to joining UNEP, she worked in the University of Ghent, Belgium as a researcher and obtained a PhD in Botany in 1988.  From 1990, she worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of Public Health and Environment, Belgium, mostly on Multilateral Environmental Agreements.  In 2000, she joined UNEP in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, first as regional coordinator for South Asia, and then as Enforcement and Policy Officer under the OzonAction Programme.  She started up the SDG and Environment Statistics Unit in the Science Division, established in 2015 in response to the demands for the follow-up and review process of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.