Premysl STEPANEK

Premysl STEPANEK is currently working as Head of Multilateral Relations Unit at the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic. Premysl has over 15 years of experience in international environmental agenda as well as legislative and strategic matters. He has been serving as the UNCCD national focal point since 2012 and as the GEF operational focal point since 2020, participating also in the GEF-8 replenishment negotiations. He had also been the national focal point for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development from 2006 to 2012.

Throughout his career, he has been engaged in a number of roles, including as a lead negotiator in UNCCD budget-related matters, in finance-related matters of the Montreal Protocol and the SAICM-beyond 2020 process as well as a co-chair of the budget contact group and the technical assistance and financial mechanism contact group of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions.

Premysl holds a PhD degree in international relations from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague and a Master of Science in Forest Engineering from the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.