Ricardo MELÉNDEZ-ORTIZ, self describes his professional role as "aligning dynamics and mechanics of the global economy to the high ideals of sustainability". A policy entrepreneur, he's initiated dozens of collaborative ventures applied to solving complex international governance issues, mostly as co-founder and executive leader of two think-and-do-tanks: the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) based in Geneva, Switzerland, best-known for BRIDGES, its periodical series of publications in 8 languages, as well as its authoritative research and policy dialogues. Previously, together with environmental personalities Yolanda Kakabadse and Pedro Tarak, he co-founded Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, based in Quito, Ecuador, to promote sustainable development in leadership and decision-making in the region, and promote mediation and conflict management to resolve socio-environmental tensions. For several years a diplomat and negotiator on behalf of Colombia also led several international U.N. processes on environmental, development and trade matters. Books include: Envisioning a Sustainable Development Agenda for Trade and Environment (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) with A. Najam and M. Halle, and co-edited Rebuilding Global Trade: Proposals for A Fairer, More Sustainable Future (Global Economic Governance Programme at Oxford U. and ICTSD, 2009) with C. Deere; Agricultural Subsidies In The WTO Green Box: Ensuring Coherence With Sustainable Development Goals (Cambridge University Press, 2009) with C. Bellmann and J. Hepburn; Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development, Agendas in a Changing World (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009) with P. Roffe; WTO Dispute Settlement: The Developing Country Experience (Cambridge U. Press, 2010) with G. Shaffer; The Law and Economics of a Sustainable Energy Trade Agreement (Cambridge U. Press, 2016) with G. C. Hufbauer and R. Samans.
