Secretary-General Appoints Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico Special Envoy for 2019 Climate Summit

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico as his Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Summit.

Mr. de Alba will provide leadership, guidance and strategic direction towards the Climate Summit in 2019.  He will be responsible for cooperation with key strategic climate change leaders, including Governments and coalitions, to galvanize climate action and leadership for the event.

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.  The Summit 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.

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 was 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 the negotiations for the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) in Cancún, Mexico.  He has held several elected positions at the United Nations, 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.

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*     This supersedes Press Release BIO/4316 of 14 September 2011.