UN chief appoints Luis Alfonso de Alba as Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Summit

De Alba will be the task of providing “leadership, guidance and strategic direction” towards Summit and will be engaging key strategic climate change leaders, including governments, and coalitions, to galvanize climate action ahead of the event.

The 2019 Climate Summit will be held with the objective of building momentum, enhancing national ambition, as set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Bringing together Heads of State and Government, business leaders, academics and scientists, youth, civil society representatives, local leaders and the UN system, it will aim to accelerate implementation of climate action worldwide.

De Alba will work closely with Robert Orr, Special Adviser on Climate Change, as well as Peter Thomson, Special Envoy for the Ocean, Michael Bloomberg, Special Envoy for Climate Action and other UN senior officials.

Prior to this appointment, he served since September 2017 as Mexico’s Under-Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean.  Appointed Ambassador in 2001, he brings experience as Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Organization of American States, the International Organizations in Vienna, the UN, and other international organizations in Geneva, among others.

As Mexico’s Special Representative for Climate Change, de Alba led negotiations for the 2010 UN Climate Change Conference (COP16) in Cancún, Mexico.  He also held several elected positions including Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council (2012) and First President of the Human Rights Council in Geneva (2006-2007).  A diplomat since 1983, he undertook various other assignments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

As the world is gearing up for the 24th Conference of the Parties in Katowice, to be held from 3 to 14 December this year, Mr. de Alba will play a key role in galvanizing international support for climate action ahead of the discussions.

World Bank/ Ivelina Taushanova