Before being appointed at the end of 2023 as CEO for Empapel – the Brazilian Association of Paper Packaging, Ambassador José Carlos da Fonseca Júnior had been a career diplomat in the Brazilian Foreign Service for almost four decades up until he joined IBÁ – the Brazilian Tree Industry, in early 2019. Throughout his career, he has held many postings in Brazil and abroad. A former Ambassador to Myanmar, he was also the Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, India, besides being posted twice in Washington, DC, as well as in Ottawa, Maputo, Abu Dhabi, Santiago, and Manila. Ambassador Fonseca was also a Member of the Federal Parliament, representing his home state of Espírito Santo, where he has also served as State Secretary of Finance and Chief of Staff for the Governor. At the Federal Government, in Brasilia, he has worked at the Foreign Ministry´s Trade Promotion Department and, twice, at the Ministry of Finance. Ambassador Fonseca seats at the Steering Committee of The Forests Dialogue (TFD), of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA), besides being the Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee on Sustainable Forest-based Industry (ACSFI/FAO. Since December 2021, Ambassador Fonseca has become the co-Facilitator of the Coalition Brazil Climate, Forests, and Agriculture, representing the private sector within this multistakeholder platform comprised of over 350 members from the private sector, NGOs, and the academic world. Currently, Ambassador Fonseca heads Empapel, remaining also responsible for the international and the advocacy activities of Ibá, in Brazil and abroad.