Brazil’s Special Envoy for Health Ethel Maciel is redefining climate diplomacy through the lens of human wellbeing. As COP30 unfolds in Belém, a new voice is helping reshape how the world thinks about climate action. Ethel Maciel, Brazil’s Special Envoy for Health, is ensuring that global negotiations recognize a truth
Behind the opening plenary of COP30 in Belém stood one of the most practiced hands in global climate diplomacy: Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago. Appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in January 2025 to steer the Amazon-hosted summit, Corrêa do Lago is tasked with transforming a decade of
In Belém—the Amazon’s gateway city—President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has recast Brazil’s climate posture from national stewardship to global convening power. At COP30, he gathered dozens of leaders and development partners to launch the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), a mechanism designed to provide long-term, performance-based payments to countries
November 2025, Brasília — In the corridors of Brasília’s Ministry of the Environment, Marina Silva still walks with the quiet determination of someone who has seen the Amazon both burn and breathe again. As world leaders prepare for COP30 in Belém next year, Silva’s return to the ministry has become
As the Caribbean grieves after yet another devastating storm, Kamal Kishore stands at the center of the United Nations effort to help vulnerable nations face a future defined by risk. As the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk
The Amazon’s Moral Compass Ahead of COP30 As the world prepares to gather in Belém for COP30, the first United Nations Climate Change Conference to be hosted in the heart of the Amazon, few figures embody the region’s spiritual, ecological, and political significance like Martín von Hildebrand. For more than
When Tariye Gbadegesin stepped into her role as Chief Executive Officer of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in March 2024, she brought with her two decades of experience and a reputation for turning ambitious climate commitments into tangible results. Her appointment came at a time when global finance institutions faced
Gretchen Daily has helped redefine what it means to create wealth. At a time when economic systems still treat nature as an externality, she has built an entirely new framework for prosperity, one that counts forests, rivers, and wetlands as assets rather than costs. Through her groundbreaking work, she has
When the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress concluded in Abu Dhabi this month, the applause that filled the room was more than ceremonial. Delegates from around the world had just re-elected Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak to a second term as President of IUCN, solidifying her
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
