Voices from COP27
As negotiations continue at COP27, read what our experts, influencers, and other advocates on the ground, who are representing the communities that they serve, are saying about the issues at the heart of the climate debate today.
Bertrand Piccard: Profitable solutions exist
UN Environment Programme’s Goodwill Ambassador Bertrand Piccard, who was responsible for Solar Impulse, the first successful round-the-world solar-powered flight, talks about the power of solutions and innovation to advance climate action around the world.
Ellie Goulding: Step up and be brave
UN Environment Programme’s Goodwill Ambassador, and singer and song-writer Ellie Goulding talks about the importance of coral reefs and why more needs to be done to protect the vibrant ecosystem that sustains life under water.
Inger Andersen: Think smartly about our footprint
Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of UNEP, discusses the importance of protecting the world’s biodiversity for climate action, and speaking ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference in December 2022, she explains why a global biodiversity framework is more needed than ever.
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez: It's in the self-interest of countries to protect nature
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, the CEO of the Global Environment Facility, talks about what to expect on the road to the UN Biodiversity Conference that will present a once-in-a-decade opportunity to usher in a new global framework to protect and conserve the world’s biodiversity.
Mary Robinson: We need transformative decisions
Mary Robinson, the Chair of the Elders, and a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Envoy on Climate Change, talks about the importance of advancing gender equality and leadership in climate change response.
Jim Skea: Every fraction of a degree of warming matters
Jim Skea, the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group III on Mitigation, talks about advances in efforts to reduce emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere as well as what happens if the climate warms more than 1.5°C.
Sabrina Dhowre Elba: When you empower a woman, you empower a nation
Goodwill Ambassador for the International Fund for Agricultural Development Sabrina Dhowre Elba talks about the importance of investing and empowering rural communities, especially women and girls, to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Emi Mahmoud: See us as more than just numbers
Sudanese American slam poet and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency Emtithal (Emi) Mahmoud, who is at COP27 “representing under-represented voices,” talks about the importance of including vulnerable communities at the forefront of the climate crisis in the negotiations and decisions being made at the conference.
Andrew Harper: Don’t make decisions about us without us
Andrew Harper, the Special Adviser on Climate Action for the UN Refugees Agency, discusses the importance of making sure the voices of people who have suffered losses and damages due to the worsening impacts of climate change are heard loud and clear at COP27.
Sanda Ojiambo: Let's hold people accountable
Sanda Ojiambo, the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, explains the importance of the newly launched Africa Business Leaders Coalition which brings together over 50 CEOs for climate action.
Brad Smith: Data is a piece of the solution
SDG Advocate and President of Microsoft Brad Smith talks about the power of data and technology in ensuring universal access to early warning systems within the next five years.
Martin Griffiths: Resilience has got to be the pitch that we make
“Getting climate finance quickly to those who not only need it but deserve it is the prime message,” UN Humanitarian Chief on the importance of addressing loss and damage, and the need for early warnings to avert the impacts of climate change.