Special Envoy for the Summit

Luis Alfonso de Alba was appointed as Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Action Summit on 9 November 2018.

Mr. de Alba provides leadership, guidance and strategic direction towards the Summit, which will take place in September 2019. He is responsible for cooperation with key strategic climate change leaders, including governments, and coalitions, to galvanize climate action and leadership for the Summit.

The Summit focuses on building momentum for enhancing national ambition and accelerating implementation of climate action, towards 2020 and beyond as set out in the Paris Agreement. It will bring together Heads of State and Government, business leaders, academics and scientists, young people, civil society representatives, local leaders and the United Nations system.

In the lead up to the Summit, Mr. de Alba will work closely with Robert Orr, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Change; Peter Thomson, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Ocean; Michael Bloomberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Climate Action and other Senior Officials across the United Nations System.

Before his appointment, Mr. de Alba served as Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean in Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since September 2017. Appointed Ambassador in 2001, he brings distinguished experience as Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Organization of American States, to the International Organizations in Vienna, to the United Nations in New York, and to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, among other postings.

As his country’s Special Representative for Climate Change, Mr. de Alba led negotiations for the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) in Cancún, Mexico. He has 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 in Mexico’s Foreign Ministry.

Born in 1957, Mr. de Alba holds a degree in International Relations from the Institut d´Étude des Relations Internationales in Paris.