Ignacio Cartagena Núñez, a career diplomat, holds a PhD in Public International Law, a Diploma in Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Masters in Energy Geopolitics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva.

Throughout his career he has held various diplomatic posts in the Spanish Embassies in Rome, Tirana (Albania) and Moscow, as well as in the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

He has also been Deputy Director General for Sub-Saharan Africa, Deputy Director General for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and Executive Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs in the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.

He was appointed member of the drafting committee of the National Energy Security Strategy (2014). As a researcher in international relations, he has published papers on the problems relating energy security in Europe and the role of the International Energy Agency.