Climate High-Level Champions

Nigar Arpadarai

Nigar Arpadarai is an independent Member of Parliament for Azerbaijan, representing one of the central constituencies of Baku city since 2020. She was elected to parliament after 15 years of professional experience in international organizations, sports and telecommunications.

Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Ms. Arpadarai was the Director of the Marketing and Communications Department and the official spokesperson of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix since its inception in 2016. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in law and international relations from Baku State University.

Razan Al Mubarak

Ms. Razan Al Mubarak is currently President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the second woman to lead the organization in its 75-year history. She is also the founding director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund which, since its inception, has supported more than 2,500 species conservation projects in over 160 countries.

In 2010, Al Mubarak was appointed as the Managing Director of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), becoming the youngest person to lead an Abu Dhabi entity and the only woman to hold such a position. Under her guidance and leadership, the government agreed to double its protected wildlife areas and adopt the region’s first carbon targets: a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030.

She holds an MSc in Public Understanding of Environmental Change from the University College London, UK, where her thesis analysed traditional laws of the sea in the UAE region, and a BA (Hons) in Environmental Studies and International Relations from Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.

Mahmoud Mohieldin

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin is an economist with more than 30 years of experience in international finance and development. Dr. Mohieldin was the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP 27, Egypt. He currently serves as the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund representing the Arab States and The Maldives. He has been the United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda since February 2020.

Previously, Dr. Mohieldin was the Minister of Investment of Egypt from 2004-2010, and more recently, served as the World Bank Group Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations and Partnerships. Dr. Mohieldin also served on several Boards of Directors in the Central Bank of Egypt and the corporate sector. He was a member of the Commission on Growth and Development and was selected a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2005.

He is a Professor of Economics and Finance at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University and as a Visiting Professor at several renowned Universities in Egypt, Korea, the UAE, the UK and the USA. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Durham University Business School. Dr. Mohieldin holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom; an M.Sc. in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from the University of York, United Kingdom; a Diploma of Development Economics from the University of Warwick; and a B.Sc. in Economics from Cairo University. The American University in Cairo bestowed Dr. Mohieldin degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, in recognition of his status as a leading public servant at both the national and international levels focusing on economic reform, development, and inclusion. He has authored numerous publications and articles in leading journals in the fields of economics, finance, and development.

Nigel Topping

Nigel is an industrialist, economist and climate diplomat. He was part of the team that built TMD Friction into the number one global manufacturer of brake pads.  For the last two decades Nigel has been using his industrial experience to champion the role of business in tackling climate change, co-launching many collaborative initiatives such as We Mean Business, SBTi, Race to Zero, Race to Resilience and GFANZ.  He is the business champion on the UK Climate Change Committee and the climate expert on the board of the UK National Wealth Fund. He was the UN Climate Change High Level Champion for COP26 and founded Ambition Loop with Gonzalo Munoz in 2024.

Gonzalo Muñoz

Gonzalo is also the co-founder of Ambition Loop, an NGO working on pressing climate and nature issues. Previously, he co-founded and led TriCiclos, one of the most recognised Latin American companies in circular economy and recycling. TriCiclos was the first company certified as a B Corp outside North America. Gonzalo also co-founded Sistema B and Polkura Winery. Currently, he sits on the board of the Global Foodbanking Network, CDP Latin America, IDB Invest, Chapter Zero Chile, TED Future Forum, and ECODES Spain, among others. He has been a member of the National Committees on Water, Climate Action, Green Hydrogen, Electromobility and Circular Economy. Also, he is co-founder and leader of Manuia, supporting companies to incorporate ESG criteria in their strategy and operations to generate triple impact.

Tomasz Chruszczow

Mr. Tomasz Chruszczow graduated from the Technical University of Warsaw and has been active in environmental protection for more than 30 years, with a focus on industrial emissions, as well as waste management. Skilled in Sustainable Development, Corporate Social Responsibility, CDM, Sustainable Business, and Energy Policy.

He has represented Polish glass manufacturers, including as the Vice President of CPIV – Standing Committee of European Glass Industries. He was the Delegate to the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI) in the European Economic and Social Committee and worked on implementation of the IPPC and EU ETS directives in Poland. He was Chair of the Technical Working Groups in the Polish IPPC Centre and Poland’s delegate to the European IPPC Bureau.

Since 2009, he has held various roles in the Ministry of Environment, including Director of the Department of Climate Change and Atmosphere Protection, Chief Negotiator and Special Envoy for Climate Change, Head of the Polish delegation, and National Focal Point for UNFCCC. He chaired the EU delegation to the UNFCCC negotiations during Poland’s Presidency of the EU Council in 2011. He was Coordinator and Chief negotiator for the COP 19/CMP 9 Presidency during the COP in Warsaw.

He acted as Chair of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies, including the Subsidiary Body for Implementation in 2012-2013 and 2016-2017, and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice in 2014-2015 and was a member of the Adaptation Committee 2012-2015. He was named High-Level Climate Champion at COP 23 in 2017.

Inia Seruiratu

H.E Inia Seruiratu was Minister for Rural, Maritime Development and Disaster Management and Minister of Defense, National Security and Policing of Fiji. As Fiji’s High-Level Champion, his agenda laid out on a roadmap aimed at enhancing partnerships among governments, cities, businesses, investors, and citizens specially on the adaptation to vulnerable nations.

He has led efforts to better prepare communities and enhance their resilience to the impacts of natural disasters, which are occurring with greater intensity due to climate change and are even more urgent regarding past catastrophes impact on people’s lives and economic subsistence. He used his position as Climate Champion to drive global action on this crucial issue and explored products and models that attracted private sector participation in the area of adaptation finance. He worked intensively on the Talanoa Dialogue process showing the ways in which holistic approaches and policy frameworks can be implemented across all sectors. The Talanoa Dialogue Synthesis report was published on November 2018 built on submissions made to the Talanoa Portal throughout 10 months. It received 471 inputs throughout the year, including the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C.

Previously, he joined the Native Land Development Corporation in 1984 before joining the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in 1987 as a Commissioned Officer. His career in the civil service began in 2007 when he was appointed the Commissioner of Fiji’s Northern Division. In 2011, he was appointed as the Permanent Secretary and soon after the Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management.

Hakima El Haite

Ms. Hakima el Haité is a member of the executive board of Mouvement Populaire Morocco. She was elected as the 14th president of Liberal International (LI) at the 62nd Congress in Dakar, Senegal in 2018 and she is the second female president in LI’s history and the first from the Middle East – North Africa Region. She served as Minister Delegate in Charge of Environment of the Minister of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment of Morocco from 2013-2017 and a member of the executive board of the Popular Movement (MP), Chairwoman of the International Relations Committee. She was appointed Special Envoy for Climate Change of the Kingdom of Morocco from 2015 to 2017 and the High-Level Climate Champion from 2016 – 2017.

Holder of a PHD in Environmental Engineering from the School of Mines of Saint Etienne (France) and a Degree in political communication, University of Washington (Washington DC), she is Vice –president of U.S–NAPEO (North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity), chairman of Connectingroup International and deputy chairwoman of the Liberal International for Women.

Trilingual (Arabic, French, English), she participated as an observer in the presidential elections of the United States of America (2008) and parliamentary elections in Jordan (2010).

Laurence Tubiana

Ms. Laurence Tubiana is CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF). In addition, she is the Chair of the Board of Directors at the French Development Agency (AFD). She was France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP 21, and as such a key architect of the landmark Paris Agreement. Following COP21, she was appointed High Level Champion.

She brings decades of expertise and experience in climate change, energy, agriculture and sustainable development, working across government, think tanks, NGOs and academia. She started her career as a Research Director for the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). In the 80’s and early 90’s she founded and then led Solagral, an NGO working on food security and the global environment. She founded in 2002 and directed until 2014 the Paris-based Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). From 1997 to 2002, she served as Senior Adviser on the Environment to the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. From 2009 to 2010, she created and then led the newly established Directorate for Global Public Goods at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). In 2013, she chaired the French National Debate on the Energy Transition. In 2018, President Macron appointed her to France’s High Council on Climate Change.

Throughout the years, she has held several academic positions, including as a Professor and Scientific Director for the International Development and Environmental Studies Master degrees at Sciences Po, Paris; and Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University, New York. She has been a member of numerous boards and scientific committees, including the Chinese Committee on the Environment and International Development (CCICED), and currently sits on advisory boards including TERI and Iberdrola.