Elizabeth Maruma Mrema

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is a Tanzanian biodiversity leader and lawyer who has been serving as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 2023, under the leadership of Executive Director Inger Andersen.

From 2020 to 2022, Mrema was executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); she was the first African woman to hold this role.

Career Before beginning work with UNEP, Mrema worked for Tanzania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, serving as a Counsellor/Senior Legal Counsel. She also lectured in Public International Law and Conference Diplomacy at Tanzania's Centre for Foreign Relations.

In November 2019, Mrema served an interim position as Officer in Charge of the CBD Secretariat.

In 2023 she was included by Time magazine in their list of 'The 100 Most Influential People of 2023'.