David Nabarro’s resume reads like a timeline of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the last decade: global nutrition and food security, the Ebola virus epidemic, climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals.
As the United Nations secretary-general’s special adviser on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and climate, Nabarro is now tasked with helping ensure the early years of two of the most momentous international agreements in history, the SDGs and the Paris climate agreement, actually amount to something real.
And in Nabarro’s view — and that of his boss U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — the dual charges are deeply interrelated.
“Unless action on climate is prompt, effective, and involves all concerned … then we’ll have virtually no chance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Nabarro told Devex Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar.
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.