For over 20 years, Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak has played a vital role in guiding the United Arab Emirates toward a more sustainable future while spearheading progressive environmental protection, species conservation, and climate action across West Asia and globally. Razan currently serves as UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28. In 2021, she was elected President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Under her guidance as managing director of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) – the largest environmental regulatory agency in the Middle East – the UAE agreed to double its protected wildlife areas and adopt the region’s first carbon targets: a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent by 2030. As founding director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Razan has supported more than 2,000 species conservation projects in over 160 countries, bringing many species back from the brink of extinction.
Razan began her career in conservation in 2001 when she helped establish Emirates Nature, an NGO associated with the World Wildlife Fund. As its managing director, she spearheaded initiatives to protect the UAE’s coral, conducted field surveys that led to the establishment of the country’s first mountain national park, and created the framework and culture to protect nesting and migrating sea turtles.