Hans Hoogeveen serves as Ambassador / Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN Organizations for Food and Agriculture. Before that he was the Director General for Agriculture and Nature Management at the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs. As such, Dr. Hoogeveen is the most senior civil servant to lead the agriculture, agribusiness, food safety, food security, veterinary and plant health, international affairs, including the European Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, international food security, the FAO and other UN affairs, trade liberalisation (WTO), market access and nature/biodiversity managements agendas. Dr. Hoogeveen served in numerous international functions, including as Chair of the Bureau of the Seventh Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests that adopted in 2007, under his leadership, an international instrument on forests which was called a landmark achievement by the UN Secretary General after fifteen years of stalled international negotiations. For his achievements within the Forum, Dr. Hoogeveen received an UN award during the High-Level Special Event on the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the international forest instrument.