J.C. Monterrey Gómez

Panama's special representative for climate change and head of the country's delegation in the UN climate negotiations, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez has become one of the most noted voices at the annual climate conferences, where he speaks for vulnerable nations and presses major economies for concrete commitments. He helped secure recognition of Panama as one of the few carbon-negative countries in the world, thanks to its forests. Elected vice president of the COP30 Bureau, hosted by Brazil, he is among the youngest officials ever to hold the role, and a symbol of a new generation of Latin American negotiators on the international climate stage.