Sonia Valdivia

Scientific Director

Since 2014, Sonia is the Scientific Director of the World Resources Forum, where she is working in the areas of sustainable recycling industries and life cycle sustainability.

Since 2016, Sonia is an Honorary Professor at the Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, associated with the Faculty of Sustainability, Institute of Environmental and Sustainability Communication (INFU).

Sonia has worked for organizations such as UNITAR, NACEC (North American Center for Environmental Cooperation), INE (Mexican Institute of Ecology, as a GIZ coordinator of the Pan-American Network for Environmental Waste Management, as Program Officer of UNEP to coordinate the Secretariat of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative.

She has an academic background in Industrial Engineering, with a Ph.D. in Environmental Management and Policies from the Technical University of Karlsruhe (KIT) (1996).

Sona is the Co-Author of many important documents in the field, such as:
• ISO IWA 19 on Guidance Principles for the Sustainable Management of Secondary Metals,
• UNEP Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment
• UNEP Life Cycle Management – How business uses it to decrease footprint, create opportunities and make value chains more sustainable,
• UNEP Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment
• UNEP State of Natural Resource Management in Latin America – Opportunities for Sustainable Practices and Prioritisation of Resources,
• Medellin Declaration on Marine Litter in LCA,
• Position Paper on Using Life Cycle Assessment to achieve a circular economy
• Position Paper on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment