Hon. Adjany Costa

Advisor for Environmental Affairs
President of the Republic of Angola

Hon. Adjany Costa is currently the Advisor for Environmental Affairs to the President of the Republic of Angola, after having served as the youngest Minister in the history of the country, at age 31, to the then newly created (Super-)Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment. With a double master’s degree in marine Biodiversity and Conservation, as an Erasmus Mundus Program grantee, she has been greatly involved in the establishment of the first Marine Protected Area in Angola, in its Southernmost Coastline, having led the official kick-off intersectoral assemblies for its creation as a Minister. While in that position, she has also driven the dialogue on climate action with several national and international stakeholders, promoting the creation of the first climate observatory in the country. As an ethno-conservationist, she strongly believes in coupling science and traditional knowledge to develop effective policies that maximize the protection of wildlife while improving the well-being of impoverished and rural communities, being it in marine, freshwater or inland environments. She has spoken at numerous national and international events of significance, authored a book and several scientific papers, received various recognitions for her work, including the 2019 United Nations Young Champions of the Earth Award and the 2020 UN MIPAD, and has received a decoration in Angola with a Golden Medal for Civil Merit, in 2019. She is pursuing her PhD at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, where she is developing a community-based natural resource management model for the headwaters of the Okavango, Zambezi and Kwando in the Angolan Highlands.