Who is Martín Prieto from Greenpeace?

Martín Prieto is an Argentine lawyer specializing in environmental law and one of the most prominent figures in environmentalism in Latin America. With more than three decades of experience, he has become a regional leader in ecological preservation campaigns, environmental political advocacy, and organizational development within the international environmental movement.

Born in Buenos Aires on May 1, 1961, Prieto studied at the University of Buenos Aires, where he obtained his law degree in 1983. From the beginning, his professional vocation was focused on the intersection of law, sustainability, and public policy. In 1984, he founded his own law firm specializing in environmental law, where he served as a legislative advisor during the national and provincial constitutional conventions of 1994.

Martín Prieto at Greenpeace

In 1996, he joined Greenpeace Argentina as executive director, at a time when environmentalism was still emerging in the country. Under his leadership, the organization underwent a structural transformation: it expanded its social base, developed direct action capabilities, launched high-impact campaigns, and achieved financial autonomy. In 2012, with the creation of Greenpeace Andino, he assumed regional leadership of the organization, also overseeing the offices in Chile and Colombia until 2018.

During his tenure, he promoted legal frameworks that are now pillars of Argentine environmental law, such as the Native Forest Protection Law and the Wind Energy Promotion Law. He also led campaigns that successfully halted the advancement of extractive projects on vulnerable ecosystems and placed issues such as deforestation, illegal fishing, industrial pollution, and climate change at the center of public debate.

In 2006, Greenpeace International appointed him as the global leader of the whale protection campaign, a role in which he achieved tangible results at the International Whaling Commission. Between 2009 and 2018, he was part of the international leadership team of the organization and served as a strategic advisor to the offices in India, Russia, and the Mediterranean, providing support in institutional growth processes, fundraising, digital campaigns, and citizen mobilization.

Throughout his career, Prieto has successfully integrated political vision, technical management, and social commitment, contributing to the development of a professionalized and strategic approach to ecology. His working style has been characterized by consistency: building without improvisation, designing evidence-based campaigns, and maintaining the value of institutional independence as an uncompromising principle.

Currently, he remains actively involved in spaces related to sustainability and continues to contribute to the debate on the role of civil society organizations in shaping environmentally viable futures. His legacy is not only reflected in institutional achievements but also in the formative influence he has had on generations of activists, communicators, and professionals in the sector.