COP15: Road to Kunming, Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth

Hybrid Event, 21/05/2021

Organizers: the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations and the FAO Liaison Office in New York

21 May 2021
9:00 to 11:00 am (EDT)

Speakers' bios

Welcome remarks

H.E. Ambassador Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations

Mr. Zhang Jun, born in Jilin Province of China in August 1960, holds a Bachelor of Laws from Jilin University in China and a Master of Laws from Hull University in the United Kingdom.

1984-1988 Staff member, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China (MFA)
1988-1990 Attaché, General Office, MFA
1990-1990 Attaché, Third Secretary, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA
1990-1994 Third Secretary, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations
1994-1999 Second Secretary, Deputy Division Director, Division Director, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA
1999-2000 Counselor, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA
2000-2002 Deputy Director of the Administration Committee of the Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone of Zhejiang Province
2002-2004 Deputy Director-General, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA
2004-2007 Secretary, General Office of the State Council
2007-2012 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
2012-2018 Director-General, Department of International Economic Affairs, MFA
2018- 2019 Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs
2019- Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations

He is married and has a daughter.

H.E. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, took office on 1st January 2017.

Having witnessed the suffering of the most vulnerable people on earth, in refugee camps and in war zones, the Secretary-General is determined to make human dignity the core of his work, and to serve as a peace broker, a bridge-builder and a promoter of reform and innovation.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary-General, Mr. Guterres served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, heading one of the world’s foremost humanitarian organizations during some of the most serious displacement crises in decades. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and the crises in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Yemen, led to a huge rise in UNHCR’s activities as the number of people displaced by conflict and persecution rose from 38 million in 2005 to over 60 million in 2015.

Before joining UNHCR, Mr. Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service. He served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, during which time he was heavily involved in the international effort to resolve the crisis in East Timor.

As president of the European Council in early 2000, he led the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda for growth and jobs, and co-chaired the first European Union-Africa summit. He was a member of the Portuguese Council of State from 1991 to 2002.

Mr. Guterres was elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1976 where he served as a member for 17 years. During that time, he chaired the Parliamentary Committee for Economy, Finance and Planning, and later the Parliamentary Committee for Territorial Administration, Municipalities and Environment. He was also leader of his party’s parliamentary group.

From 1981 to 1983, Mr. Guterres was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where he chaired the Committee on Demography, Migration and Refugees.

Read the complete bio here.

H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (copy 1)

After graduating with a degree in law from Ankara University, Mr. Bozkir joined his country’s foreign service in 1972. He held several positions during his 39-year career there, including: Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union (EU); Ambassador to Romania; Consul General in New York; Counsellor of the Permanent Representation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); First Secretary of the Embassy in Iraq; and Vice Consul General in Stuttgart. He also served as the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Turgut Özal; Chief of Cabinet and Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to Presidents Turgut Özal and Süleyman Demirel; Deputy Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for EU Affairs; Secretary General for EU Affairs.

Mr. Bozkir was elected as a Member of Parliament first in 2011 and then in the following three parliamentary elections. During his nine years in Parliament, he served as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Turkey-USA Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Caucus and Co-Chairman of the Turkish-Russian Civic Forum. He also served as the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator from 2014 until 2016. In 2018, he was elected for the fourth time as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, during which time he chaired the Turkey-Australia Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group.

Mr. Bozkir was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania; the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic with the rank of “Knight”; and the 100th Anniversary Medal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

H.E. Munir Akram, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations

His Excellency Munir Akram was elected seventy-sixth President of the Economic and Social Council on 23 July 2020. Ambassador Akram is currently the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York. Ambassador Akram assumed his position as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, on November 1, 2019.

Ambassador Munir Akram previously served as Pakistan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York for six years between 2002 and 2008, after serving as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva for seven years from 1995 to 2002.

Between 1988 and 1992, Munir Akram was Pakistan’s Ambassador to the European Council, Belgium and Luxemburg.

During his term at the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram served twice as President of the Security Council in May 2003 and in May 2004; President of the Economic and Social Council in 2005; Chairman of the Group of 77 and China (developing countries) in 2007, and Facilitator on UN Administrative Reform in 2006.

In recognition of his selfless service and outstanding performance in the field of diplomacy and foreign policy, he was conferred the Award of Hilal-i-Quaid-e-Azam by the President of Pakistan.

H.E. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema was the Director of the Law Division and has worked with UNEP for over two decades. Prior to joining the Law Division in June 2014, she was the Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division, in charge of coordination, operations and programme delivery from 2012 and for one year, also serviced as Acting Director to the same Division. In 2018, in addition to her role as the Law Division Director, she was also the Acting Director of the Corporate Services Division where she led the management of the human resources, financial operations and management and other administrative functions for the entire Organization.

In 2009 she had been appointed as the Executive Secretary of the UNEP/Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), Acting Executive Secretary of the UNEP/ASCOBANS and Interim Executive Secretary of the UNEP/Gorilla Agreement, all based in Bonn, Germany and held that position until 2012 and thereafter she joined the Ecosystems Division in Nairobi, Kenya. In these portfolios, she over saw and ensure effective conservation of migratory animals globally as well as implementation of a number of specific species agreements covering geographical areas where animals or birds or marine species migrate during their lifetime.

Elizabeth's work at UNEP has focused on the development, implementation and enforcement environmental laws both at national, regional and international level. She has played different roles in UNEP over the years that have included being a coordinator of capacity building and compliance and enforcement projects related to environmental law and the multilateral environmental conventions. She was a Senior Legal Officer and Chief of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) Support and Cooperation Branch in the then Division of Environmental Conventions (DEC), and later a Principal Legal Officer and Chief of the Biodiversity/Land Law and Governance Branch in the then Division of Environmental Law and Conventions.

Before joining UNEP, Elizabeth worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania and left as a Counsellor/Senior Legal Counsel. During her time with the ministry, she was also a lecturer in Public International Law and Conference Diplomacy at Tanzania's Centre for Foreign Relations and Diplomacy. She had also served as a pro bono visiting lecturer at the University of Nairobi Law School and in the past at the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), Rome, Italy.

A lawyer and career diplomat with LLB (Hons) from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, LLM from Dalhousie University, Canada and Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations and Diplomacy (Summa Cum Laude) from the Centre of Foreign Relations and Diplomacy in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. She has published several articles related to international environmental law, compliance and enforcement of conventions and developed, among others, a number of multilateral environmental agreements negotiation tools, handbooks and guidelines currently used by UNEP in its capacity-building programmes.

Keynote Presentation on Preparation of COP15

H.E. HUANG Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China

H.E. Mr. Huang Runqiu obtained a PhD degree in Engineering Geology in 1986 in Chengdu College of Geology (currently known as the Chengdu University of Technology), and started his career as a teacher in the Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Chengdu College of Geology, then as professor and dean of the same department. He became the Vice president of Chengdu University of Technology and director of the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection in 2001.

In January 2008, he was appointed vice chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). In January 2014, he was appointed vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan People's Congress, and remained in that position until March 2016.

He was appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (currently known as the Ministry of Ecology and Environment) since 2016. He became the Minister of Ecology and Environment since April 2020.

H.E. Mohamed Fathi Ahmed Edrees, Permanent Representative of Egypt to UN, Chair of COP14

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Edrees was the Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs from 2015 to January 2018. He served as Ambassador of Egypt to Ethiopia, as well as his country’s Permanent Representative to the African Union and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, from 2011 to 2015.

From 2010 to 2011, Mr. Edrees was Deputy Assistant Minister for Arab-Orient Affairs, while from 2007 to 2010, he was Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He previously served as Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Nations in New York from 2006 to 2007 and as Deputy Chief of Mission at Egypt’s Embassy in Damascus, Syria, from 2001 to 2005.

Prior to his diplomatic service, he was a resident doctor within the Ministry of Health.

Mr. Edrees holds a Master of Arts in political science from the University of London and a Bachelor of Science in medicine and surgery from Cairo University.

Born on 31 May 1960, he is married and has a son and a daughter.

H.E. Guillermo Roque Fernandez De Soto Valderrama, Permanent Representative of Colombia to UN, Host of 3rd Meeting of OEWG on Post-2020 GBF

Before his latest appointment, Mr. Fernandez de Soto was based in Madrid, Spain, between 2012 and 2018 as Corporae Director for Europe at Corporacion Andina de Fomento, the Development Bank of Latin America.

From 2011 to 2012, he served as President of the Inter‑American Judicial Committee of the Organization of American States, having previously been President of Colombia’s Council on International Relations. Mr. Fernandez de Soto was Ambassador to the Netherlands from 2004 to 2008, as well as Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until 2002.

The holder of a law degree, a doctorate in legal and economic sciences and a post‑graduate degree in socioeconomic sciences, Mr. Fernandez de Soto earned them all from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia.

Best Practice and Experience Sharing

GUO Huadong, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Former member of the United Nations 10-Member Group to Support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism for SDGs

Prof. Huadong Guo is Academic Committee Chair of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Aerospace Information Research Institute, an Academician of CAS, a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, and a Fellow of TWAS. He presently serves as Honorary President of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE), Director of the International Center on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspices of UNESCO, Science Committee Member of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme, Chair of the Digital Belt and Road Program, and Editor-in-Chief of two scientific journals International Journal of Digital Earth and Big Earth Data. He served as Member of the UN 10-Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism for SDGs (2018-2021), Chairman of the International Committee of Remote Sensing of Environment (2017-2020), President of ISDE (2015-2019), and ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) (2010-2014). He specializes in remote sensing, radar for Earth observation, and Digital Earth science. He has published more than 510 papers and 24 books, and is the awardee of 18 domestic and international prizes.

Irene Hoffmann, Secretary of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO

Dr Irene Hoffmann (PhD) is Secretary of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, and the leader of FAO’s biodiversity work stream. In FAO, she held previous positions as Chief, Animal Genetic Resources Branch and Chief, Animal Production Service, within the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department. She holds a Ph.D. from Hohenheim University and an MSc in Agriculture Science from Göttingen University, Germany. Before joining FAO, Dr Hoffmann was assistant professor at the Institute of Livestock Ecology, Giessen University, where she coordinated several international research programmes, mostly on rangelands and pastoralism in Africa. She has organized many intergovernmental meetings and international conferences, and published extensively in refereed journals, books and conference papers on scientific and policy topics, and has served in various advisory committees and review panels.

SHEN Fei Malipo County, Yunnan Province, China

Ms. SHEN Fei, a local citizen of the Yao ethnic group in Malipo County, Yunnan Province, China. She has been long working in areas of culture, tourism and poverty eradication, with rich experience in local tea industry development and promotion.

Closing Remarks

Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, is an economist and politician from Cape Verde. A leading expert in global development issues, she has worked in public service for over thirty years. Over the last decade, FAO has helped shape a new global narrative where agriculture is prominently recognized as a solution in addressing increasingly complex emerging issues – from transforming food systems to dealing with climate change.

Leading to deliver, Semedo promotes an integrated, inclusive approach, resulting in greater cross-sectoral engagement and stronger strategic partnerships, better positioning FAO in its role to promote a transition to sustainable food and agriculture systems. As part of the FAO Core Leadership Team, Semedo works to develop impactful initiatives such as the FAO Green Cities Action Programme and the corporate strategy for mainstreaming biodiversity across agricultural sectors, fostering multi-stakeholder dialogues that optimize the Organization’s 75 years of technical expertise and experience, its global reach and innovative approaches, all contributing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Before taking up her current duties in 2013, Ms Semedo gained valuable experience and insight in Africa, first as FAO Representative in Niger, then as Deputy Regional Representative for Africa and Sub-regional Coordinator for West Africa. Prior to her international career, she worked as an economist for the Cabo Verde Ministry of Planning and Cooperation before becoming Secretary of State for Fisheries, then in 1993 Minister for Fisheries, Agriculture and Rural Affairs – the first-ever woman Minister in her country. After serving as Minister for Tourism, Transportation and Marine Affairs from 1995-1998, she became Member of Parliament, a position she held until 2003.

Moderator

Nandhini Krishna, Deputy Chief of the Convention on Biological Diversity Liaison Office in New York

Dr. Nandhini Krishna is currently the Deputy Chief of UNCCD/CBD Liaison Office at the UN. She has worked with both the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Biological Diversity for several years and is a specialist on sustainable development and environment issues. Prior to joining the United Nations, Dr. Krishna was a career diplomat from India, heading the United Nations division in the Ministry of External Affairs. She led the negotiating team on the Biosafety Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Her diplomatic assignments have included Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India, handling Second Committee, ECOSOC, Commission on Sustainable Development and Minister/Deputy Chief of Mission in Hungary. She is the author of several books and articles on sustainable development and has also served on the Board of Trustees of the United Nations International School.

FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York