Emmanuel Da Ponte

As ART’s Associate Director, Technical Team Lead, Emmanuel Da Ponte leads and coordinates the REDD+ technical team within ART operations and ensures smooth implementation of the technical workstreams. His role includes supporting TREES technical and verification requirements, providing clear technical guidance to participating jurisdictions, preparing communication materials and presentations on program requirements, and overseeing the Technical Team’s review processes to maintain accuracy and consistency. Mr. Da Ponte is a technical expert in REDD+, forest carbon accounting, and remote sensing-based land use analysis. He holds an MSc in European Forestry from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Lleida, and a PhD in Geographical Sciences from Kiel University in partnership with the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He brings extensive experience across Africa, Latin America, and Europe, including leading carbon validation and verification cycles, managing multi-country environmental monitoring programs, conducting long-term research on deforestation dynamics, ecosystem condition, and forest landscape change.

Prior to joining the ART Secretariat, Mr. Da Ponte served as Senior Manager for Carbon and Carbon Verification Manager at BioCarbon Partners (BCP) in Zambia. He led the technical delivery of REDD+ carbon verifications under the VERRA AFOLU framework, ensuring the accuracy of emissions estimates and compliance with VCS and CCB methodologies. His work focused on drafting project descriptions and monitoring reports, coordinating and representing the organization during validation and verification audits, and overseeing carbon accounting and geospatial workflows. He also facilitated interdisciplinary collaboration with project teams and external auditors to strengthen the technical rigor and integrity of BCP’s REDD+ portfolio. Earlier in his career at the DLR, Mr. Da Ponte worked on multi-country environmental monitoring and research initiatives, applying remote-sensing and machine-learning approaches to assess land-use change, forest structure, and ecosystem condition. His work supported government agencies and conservation partners through technical analysis, project coordination, and capacity-building efforts across Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.