At the COP 21 United Nations climate change conference in Paris, governments agreed that mobilizing stronger and more ambitious climate action is urgently required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. To connect the work of governments with the many voluntary and collaborative actions taken by cities, regions, businesses and investors, nations decided to appoint two high-level champions.

The champions work focuses on two crucial areas:

1. Engage with interested Parties and non-Party stakeholders– This work builds on existing initiatives and supports new and more geographically diverse initiatives. Focus is placed on connecting initiatives and coalitions with national action plans such as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement. This helps bringing more transparency, with result tracking and lends demonstrable credibility to climate action.
2. Input from the champions efforts to mobilize action helps the secretariat organize technical expert meetings and, in collaboration with the Executive Secretary and the current and incoming Presidents of the Conference of the Parties, coordinate annual high-level events to spur even greater ambition and action.

Current Champions

High-Level Champion of Azerbaijan: Nigar Arpadarai

Ms. Nigar Arpadarai is an independent member of the Milli Majlis, 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. 

She is a member of two parliamentary committees – the Foreign and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee and Family, Women and Children Committee. Ms. Arpadarai is also the Chairperson of the Working Group on Azerbaijan-Portugal Inter-Parliamentary Relations in the Parliament of Azerbaijan. 

Prior to becoming a member of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, she 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. 

Ms. Arpadarai is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Azerbaijan National Anti-Doping Agency (AMADA). She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in law and international relations from Baku State University.

High-Level Champion of the United Arab Emirates: 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.