Natalia Jiménez Galindo

Lawyer
Independent Consultant
Colombia

Sep 29, 2026

Natalia Jimenez is a Colombian environmental lawyer, facilitator, and environmental peacebuilding practitioner with more than fifteen years of experience working at the intersection of environmental governance, human rights, gender, and conflict transformation across Latin America.

Natalia studied Law at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, where she also completed minors in International Relations and Interdisciplinary Development Studies. She also studied International and Comparative International Law at the American University Washington College of Law. Initially drawn to law as a tool to “fix things,” she became deeply involved in the university’s public interest legal clinic, where she learned what it meant to act as a community advocate rather than merely a legal expert. During these formative years, she worked closely with Indigenous and rural communities on issues related to land rights, environmental protection, and prior consultation, experiences that shaped her sensitivity to power, justice, and the lived realities behind legal frameworks.

After graduating, Natalia worked with prominent regional and international organizations, including AIDA (Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense), Earthjustice, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), PNUD, Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, IDLO, Procasur and DAI among other ONG and Colombian state entities. Her work focused largely on socio-environmental conflicts linked to extractive industries, where she represented communities affected by mining, oil, and large-scale infrastructure projects. Over time, Natalia began to recognize that adversarial legal strategies, despite being grounded in rights and science, could unintentionally polarize communities and fuel conflict. This realization marked a turning point. In 2013, Natalia was invited to advise the peace dialogue between the Colombian government and the ELN guerrilla on environmental governance and extractive industries. After deep reflection, she declined the role, concerned about the potential harm her participation could generate and the ethical complexity of intervening without being a party to the conflict. This decision, which she describes as one of the most difficult of her professional life, became a personal embodiment of the “do no harm” principle and reshaped her understanding of peacebuilding.

Natalia grew up on the outskirts of Bogotá, surrounded by mountains and trees. She was raised in a household where her parents made a conscious decision not to have a television until the children were around twelve years old. As a result, much of her childhood unfolded outdoors: climbing trees, exploring the mountains, and spending long hours immersed in nature. This early and intimate relationship with the natural environment shaped not only her sense of joy and belonging, but also her ethical compass. Nature was never an abstract concept for her; it was a living presence that demanded care, respect, and responsibility. This deep-rooted connection later became a driving force in her professional life. Natalia’s search for a different way to engage led her to the concept of environmental peacebuilding, which she encountered during her volunteer work with ELI between 2015 and 2017.

In 2018, Natalia became a founding member of ENPAX, committing herself to advancing environmental peacebuilding in Colombia, the region, and globally. That same year, she was selected as a Peace Fellow at the International Christian University in Japan, where she began a Master’s program in Peace Studies. Although the program was interrupted due to illness, the experience became another critical lesson: understanding physical and mental health as foundational to sustainable peace work.

Natalia’s career has been marked by significant challenges: financial instability, difficulty finding spaces that align with her ethics, and the emotional toll of working in contexts shaped by violence. Her personal life has also been deeply affected by Colombia’s conflict—losing family members and close acquaintances to suicide, armed violence, and political polarization. Rather than seeing these experiences solely as wounds, Natalia understands them as part of a long process of healing and integration. She describes her greatest achievement not as a title or institutional milestone, but as developing an inner and authentic strength that allows her to contribute to the world and to herself. She strongly believes that peacebuilding work does not always require visibility to be meaningful and that without the transformation of people, there is no transformation of organizations or systems.

For young people interested in environmental peacebuilding, Natalia offers a simple but profound message: see yourself as a whole person. Knowledge, language, and technical expertise matter, but they are not enough. Inner power—rooted in self-awareness, embodiment, and connection to nature—is what allows people to act. She encourages young practitioners to choose whether they draw strength from wounds or from light, reminding them that everyone has a role to play, regardless of their background or experiences. Taking on challenges to impact the environment, rather than the other way around. Connecting with nature, questioning narratives, and remaining ethically curious are, in her view, essential practices. She highlights the importance of dedicating sufficient time to cultivating a sense of transcendence beyond mere performance—asking oneself "Who am I?"—and constantly asking what we did with the "here and now."

For Natalia, environmental peacebuilding is not a static concept or a policy tool—it is a way of being and relating. It recognizes that conflict adapts, that peace is contextual and relational, and that sustainable solutions require moving beyond false dichotomies such as state versus market, victim versus perpetrator, or resistance versus collaboration. She joined ENPAX because it offered an outsider, global perspective that allowed her to transcend local limitations while remaining grounded in lived experience. Looking ahead, she hopes to continue strengthening multilateral and international approaches to environmental peacebuilding while ensuring peaceful relations between people, nature, and power.