As Special Envoy to the UN on Climate Change, Ms. Robinson raised awareness of the key role climate change has on poverty, and especially on the extremely poor who are the most vulnerable to changing weather patterns. In order to end extreme poverty, she explained the world must also tackle climate change.

Quotes

I’m a prisoner of hope, that we can change the lives of the very poorest and leave no one behind. I believe we must adopt a new frontier in development to end extreme poverty, to reduce inequality, and to minimize the risk posed to development from climate change.

The frontier we find ourselves at offers an incredible opportunity to kick start a transformation that will benefit people and the planet by creating healthier, more inclusive and more equal societies.

When extremists measure their success by what they destroy, we are compelled to measure ours by what we’re building. When extremists succeed from stoking old hatreds, we succeed by imagining new solutions and delivering opportunity.

Our responsibility as citizens of the United States means we’re also citizens of the world. We’ve always looked at it that way. And that’s how we keep the United States on the frontier of global development, and that’s how we will make a difference.

We need to stop thinking about these challenges of underdevelopment, climate change, and inequality separately. They are linked, and to be effective, responses need to be informed by these interconnections.

Biography

Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, Special Envoy of the Secretary General on Climate Change

Mary Robinson is President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. She served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Elders and the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Between March 2013 and August 2014 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa. In August 2014 she was appointed the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change.