SDG News Spotlight: Andrea Meza Muraillo

Championing Land and Life

As Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Andrea Meza Murillo is at the forefront of one of humanity’s most urgent and overlooked battles: the fight to restore degraded land and reverse the spread of desertification. From the halls of international negotiations to the parched fields of Latin America, her work bridges policy and action, shaping a future where land is valued not only as territory but as the foundation of life itself.

A lawyer by training, Ms. Meza’s path has always been guided by purpose. Before joining the UNCCD, she served as Costa Rica’s Minister of Energy and Environment, leading the small Central American nation often hailed as a global model for sustainable development. Her leadership helped strengthen Costa Rica’s reputation for balancing conservation with economic growth, a lesson she now brings to the global stage.

A Continental Perspective

Over two decades, Andrea Meza Murillo has worked across more than fifteen Latin American countries, designing climate, conservation, and restoration policies that align ambition with implementation. Whether directing climate change programs in Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment and Energy or managing large-scale conservation initiatives through international organizations, her focus has remained steady: empowering communities to restore ecosystems while building resilience against the intensifying impacts of climate change.

Her tenure as Director of the Mesoamerican Office at EPYPSA and as head of the Programme for Conservation of Private Lands at the Center for Environmental Law and Natural Resources deepened her regional perspective. She has long argued that combating desertification is not just about preventing land loss; it is about creating the conditions for dignity, opportunity, and security in the most vulnerable places on earth.

From National Action to Global Vision

At the UNCCD, Andrea Meza Murillo has been instrumental in connecting the dots between land degradation, climate change, and human security. She played a key role during Desertification and Drought Day 2021, hosted by Costa Rica, which helped galvanize international momentum around land restoration as a pillar of global environmental policy. Her ability to translate national success stories into global frameworks has made her one of the most respected voices within the UN system.

Now, as the world faces intensifying droughts and shrinking arable lands, Ms. Meza’s mission is both urgent and hopeful: to inspire nations to act collectively, to restore what has been lost, and to reimagine the value of the land beneath our feet.

A Restorer’s Mindset

Andrea Meza Murillo embodies a new generation of global leadership, pragmatic yet visionary, rooted in the legal discipline of governance but animated by a deep reverence for the natural world. She often reminds colleagues that the land “connects us all,” and that restoring it is an act of both justice and foresight.

In a time defined by scarcity, she stands for renewal. And as deserts advance and fertile ground disappears, her work ensures that the global community does not simply adapt, but restores, revives, and reclaims the very systems that sustain life.

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