UNA-UK UN Day: Code Red for Humanity

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, recently launched the report 'Our Common Agenda', identifying this year as pivotal for our people and our planet. The report outlines a path for a sustainable future, "For people, for the planet, for prosperity and for peace."

This year's UN Day event will consider the opportunities provided by this report, with a climate-focused perspective ahead of COP26 in November. It will explore the need for just and rapid action to tackle the challenges of climate change, that extends beyond a narrow view of the climate crisis as 'environmental' to one that includes issues such as human rights, social justice and gender equality.

We are honoured to announce that we will be joined by María Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, and Nisreen Elsaim, Chair of the UN Secretary General's Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change!

Ms. Espinosa has a wealth of experience in the field of sustainable development and biodiversity. Prior to her Presidential post on the UN General Assembly, she served as a chief negotiator at both COP16 and COP17, and at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, where she facilitated the adoption of key elements in the resultant document ‘The future we want’. During her early years, she worked with indigenous Amazonian communities in Ecuador and throughout her academic career has written a number of respected articles about the Amazon region, sustainable development, and climate change.

Ms. Elsaim is a climate activist and negotiator at intergovernmental climate change platforms. As Chair of the UN Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, she leads the group in advising the Secretary-General on the implementation of his 2020-2021 Climate Change Strategy. She has applied her degrees in Physics and Renewable Energy to a career focusing on youth engagement and policy work in sustainable development, and was an organiser of the 2019 Youth Climate Summit. Additionally, she is currently Chair of the Sudan Youth Organisation on Climate Change, as well has having held high-level position in numerous COP and African Conference Youth meetings.