At the COP21 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, governments agreed that mobilizing stronger and more ambitious climate action was urgently required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
To connect the work of governments with the many voluntary and collaborative actions taken by cities, regions, businesses and investors, nations decided to appoint two High-Level Champions. The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions for COP25 and COP26, Gonzalo Muñoz and Nigel Topping, established the Climate Champions Team to help deliver on their mandate to enhance ambition and strengthen the engagement of non-State actors in supporting Parties, working with the Marrakech Partnership, to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin and Her Excellency Ms. Razan Al Mubarak are the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions for COP27 and COP28.
UN Climate Change High-Level Champion of the UAE, Her Excellency Ms. Razan Al Mubarak
Her Excellency Ms. Razan Al Mubarak is a United Arab Emirates native who, for over twenty years, has played a vital role in guiding her country towards a more sustainable future while spearheading progressive environmental protection and species conservation across West Asia and globally.
HE Ms. Razan Al Mubarak was elected President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for a four-year term beginning in September 2021. She is the second woman to lead the organization in its 75-year history and its first president from West Asia.
In 2010 she was appointed managing director of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), becoming the youngest person to lead an Abu Dhabi government entity and one of the only women to hold such a position. Under her guidance and leadership, the government agreed to double its protected wildlife areas and adopt the region’s first carbon targets.
HE Ms. Razan Al Mubarak is the founding director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, helping to build the organization into one of the world’s most significant philanthropic foundations supporting direct species conservation. Since its inception the MBZ Fund has supported more than 2,500 species conservation projects in over 160 countries, bringing many species back from the brink of extinction.
HE Ms. Razan Al Mubarak holds an MSc in Public Understanding of Environmental Change from the University College London, UK and a BA (Hons) in Environmental Studies and International Relations from Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.
www.razanalmubarak.com
UN Climate Change High-Level Champion of Egypt: Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin
Dr. Mohieldin is an economist with more than 30 years of experience in international finance and development. He is an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He has been the United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda since February 2020. He was Minister of Investment of Egypt from 2004-2010, and most recently, served as the World Bank Group Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations and Partnerships.
His roles at the World Bank also included Managing Director, responsible for Human Development, Sustainable Development, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, Finance and Private Sector Development, and the World Bank Institute; World Bank President’s Special Envoy on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Post-2015 Development Agenda (later, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)), and Financing for Development; and Corporate Secretary and Executive Secretary to the Development Committee of the World Bank Group’s Board of Governors.
Dr. Mohieldin also served on several Boards of Directors in the Central Bank of Egypt and the corporate sector. He was a member of the Commission on Growth and Development and selected a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2005. His professional experience extends into the academic arena as a Professor of Economics and Finance at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University and as a Visiting Professor at several renowned Universities in Egypt, Korea, the UAE, the UK and the USA. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Durham University Business School. He also holds leading positions in national, regional and international research centers and economic associations.
Dr. Mohieldin holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom; a Master’s in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from the University of York, United Kingdom; a Diploma of Development Economics from the University of Warwick; and a B.Sc. in Economics from Cairo University. He also participated in high-level certification programmes at Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University. In 2018, the American University in Cairo conferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor of Humane Letters “in recognition of renowned attainments and achievements”.
He has authored numerous publications and articles in leading journals in the fields of economics, finance and development.
Image: IMF
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Our mission is to help accelerate the race to a better world. A zero carbon and resilient world. A healthier, safer, fairer world. A world of wellbeing, abundance and joy, where the air is fresher, our jobs are well-paid and dignified, and our future is clear. To get there we need to run fast, and get faster. We need more and more people to join the race, and right now. This is not about 2050, it’s about today.
Race to Zero is the UN-backed global campaign rallying non-state actors – including companies, cities, regions, financial and educational institutions – to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a healthier, fairer zero carbon world in time.
The Race to Resilience is the UN-backed global campaign to catalyse a step-change in global ambition for climate resilience, putting people and nature first in pursuit of a resilient world where we don’t just survive climate shocks and stresses, but thrive in spite of them.
2030 Breakthroughs
We believe once 20% of key actors within each sector commit to playing their part to transform the sector consistent with the Climate Action Pathways, we have achieved “Breakthrough Ambition”. This means sufficient momentum is generated among a critical mass of key actors, enabling them to break away from the business-as-usual path and together deliver breakthrough outcomes at pace.