Mary Robinson appointed UN climate change envoy

Former Irish President takes on key role months ahead of Ban Ki-moon climate summit in New York

UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region visit in Goma

Mary Robinson has been appointed the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Change.

The former President of Ireland will take up the post immediately, leaving her previous role as envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa.

In a statement Robinson, who has devoted much of the last decade to campaigning for climate justice, said she was looking forward to working alongside Ban Ki-moon ahead of his climate leader’s summit in September.

“His focus on climate change and his faith in my capacity to help make progress on the challenges it presents is, I believe, an affirmation of the work of the Foundation I lead.

“Our work on climate justice emphasises the urgency of action on climate change from a people’s perspective and I intend to take this approach in my new mandate as Special Envoy for Climate Change.”

Robinson will be the fourth climate envoy Ban has appointed in the past seven months.

Last December John Kufuor, former President of Ghana, and Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Minister of Norway joined his team, while in January ex New York mayor Mike Bloomberg became the UN’s special envoy for cities and climate change.

The UN is coordinating negotiations aimed at limiting global warming to 2C above pre industrial levels, with an agreement to cut carbon emissions set to be signed off next year in Paris.

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