Patricia Espinosa
Her voice

Throughout my career, I’ve seen many women move from the fringes of international discussions to their rightful places at the forefront. Yet there is no expiry date on progress and an incredible amount of work remains. It’s time for all leaders – women and men – to do their part and make the political decisions necessary to reflect the equality we must see globally. After all, we can’t change the world by excluding 50 per cent of its inhabitants. Women of the world can and must be the catalyzers of solutions that we need to create jobs, build healthier and safer communities, accelerate sustainability and achieve fair and just prosperity for all.” 

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BIO

Ms. Patricia Espinosa served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2016 to 2022 and was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012.

Ambassador Espinosa brings more than 30 years of experience at the highest levels in multilateral affairs, with a focus on climate change, sustainable development, gender equality and human rights.

As President of the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in 2010, she was instrumental in reinstating credibility and trust in the multilateral process on climate change. And she was a member of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 Development Agenda appointed by the UN Secretary General to lay the foundations of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.

Elected Chair of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly (1996) she played a key role in the process leading to the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action at the 4th World Conference on Women. 

A career diplomat, Ms. Espinosa is a former Ambassador of Mexico to Germany (twice) as well as Ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and UN Organisations in Vienna. 

In 2021 she received the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security.