{"id":453862,"date":"2026-07-04T11:27:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T18:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=453862"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:27:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T18:27:53","slug":"meet-the-climate-activist-shortlist-of-candidates-to-be-next-un-secretary-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=453862","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Climate Activist Shortlist of Candidates to be Next UN Secretary General"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern<\/a> wasn\u2019t on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

UN CLIMATE TALKS<\/a><\/strong>  
2 July 2026  13:01
Q&A: Where do the UN secretary general candidates stand on climate change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidates are being nominated to take over as the UN secretary general, when Ant\u00f3nio Guterres steps down after nearly a decade in the role at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

Since becoming the ninth secretary general on 1 January 2017, Guterres has been a strong advocate for climate action, saying<\/a> in January 2026: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been outspoken on the urgent need for climate action, demanding ambition and working to rally governments, businesses and civil society.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus far, five<\/a> of the six candidates are from South or Central America: Michelle Bachelet Jeria; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis; Rafael Mariano Grossi; Mar\u00eda Fernanda Espinosa Garc\u00e9s; and Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outlier is Macky Sall, a former Senegalese president nominated by the east African nation of Burundi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Bachelet Jeria
<\/strong>
Dr Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Chilean diplomat, politician and doctor, nominated to be the next UN secretary general by Brazil and Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As president [of Chile] and in public office, she consistently framed action on climate change as a human-rights obligation and a preventive tool<\/a> to mitigate the worst impacts, arguing that \u201cthere is no space for [climate] denial\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis
<\/strong>
\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Grynspan became the first woman to be appointed secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development<\/a> (UNCTAD). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of this role, in February 2022, she outlined the UN\u2019s vision for a sustainable recovery<\/a> from the Covid-19 pandemic<\/a> that \u201c\u200b\u200bavoid[s] another lost decade of development for developing countries\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rafael Mariano Grossi
<\/strong>
Rafael Mariano Grossi is an Argentine diplomat and has served as the director-general of the UN\u2019s nuclear watchdog \u2013 the International Atomic Energy Agency<\/a> (IAEA) \u2013 since 2019. 


\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grossi takes credit<\/a> for helping to achieve \u201cglobal consensus around the need for nuclear power in the energy transition\u201d. 

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macky Sall
<\/strong>
Macky Sall<\/a> is a Senegalese politician who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2007 and then president from 2012 to 2024. He has been nominated<\/a> by Burundi, which is currently the chair of the African Union (AU).

However, Sall\u2019s candidacy has been rejected<\/a> by other AU states, with Rwanda calling<\/a> the use of a \u201csilent procedure\u201d to push through consensus on the African candidate for the position \u201ca gross breach of AU rules and regulations\u201d. 

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the early part of Sall\u2019s presidency, Senegal discovered<\/a> oil and gas reserves \u2013 and the country\u2019s oil exports have since surged<\/a> from $0.4bn in 2015 to $2.4bn in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was supportive<\/a> of the African oil-and-gas sector, with much of the development of Senegal\u2019s first oil production<\/a> site undertaken during his term in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mar\u00eda Fernanda Espinosa Garc\u00e9s
<\/strong>
\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before her political career, Espinosa was known<\/a> for her work with Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and biodiversity conservation. 

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett
<\/strong>
\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her vision statement<\/a> for the role, Birkett places a strong emphasis on climate finance and unmet sustainable development goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-where-do-the-un-secretary-general-candidates-stand-on-climate-change\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What a lineup. The only candidate who has shown any support for oil and gas, African candidate Macky Sall, has been accused of Crimes Against Humanity for his allegedly harsh suppression of demonstrations against his Presidency in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Senegal opposition leader launches French legal action against incumbent President Sall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Sall and accomplices are alleged to have \u2018ordered and supervised the commission\u2019 of crimes \u2018against unarmed demonstrators since March 2021\u2019 in the suit, which was filed in Paris by Ousmane Sonko. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le Monde with AFPPublished on June 22, 2023, at 12:58 pm (Paris), updated on July 4, 2023, at 9:52 am<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has filed a criminal complaint in France for \u201ccrimes against humanity\u201d against President Macky Sall, his lawyer said, as well as requesting a probe by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Sall is in Paris on Thursday, June 22, and Friday, June 23, for a global climate finance summit called by President Emmanuel Macron.


Sonko alleges that deadly clashes following his sentencing to jail time this month are the latest step in \u201ca generalized and systematic attack on the civilian population\u201d of Senegal since March 2021, lawyer Juan Branco told AFP late on Wednesday, June 21.

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/international\/article\/2023\/06\/22\/senegal-opposition-leader-launches-french-legal-action-against-incumbent-president-sall_6035338_4.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Personally I think Macky Sall should get the job. Not because I think he would do a good job, but because it would be hilarious to have a UN Secretary General who might end up with an international arrest warrant. And the rest of the candidates just look like boring apparatchiks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Climate activists dominate the shortlist for the next UN Secretary General. <\/p>\n

Surprisingly former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern wasn\u2019t on the list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":453866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691823342,691843938,691843936,691843937,691843933,691843935,691843934,691830393],"class_list":["post-453862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-carbon-brief","tag-carolyn-rodrigues-birkett","tag-macky-sall","tag-maria-fernanda-espinosa-garces","tag-michelle-bachelet-jeria","tag-rafael-mariano-grossi","tag-rebeca-grynspan-mayufis","tag-un-secretary-general-2","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1U4m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":287270,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=287270","url_meta":{"origin":453862,"position":0},"title":"Dumped by New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern Still Pushing Climate Action","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will work alongside leaders from Conservation International to advocate for climate action and better treatment of the environment. 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