GENEVA | 31 AUGUST 2026
The global multilateral system is facing a defining moment. As United Nations Member States consider the next Secretary-General, the question extends far beyond an individual appointment. It concerns the future credibility, effectiveness and relevance of multilateral cooperation in a rapidly changing world.UNACCC official website
Armed conflicts, inequality, climate disruption, food and energy insecurity, economic fragmentation, development-financing pressures and declining public confidence are increasingly interconnected. The world needs leadership capable of connecting these challenges rather than treating them as separate crises.
Against this backdrop, the Unity of Nations Action for Climate Change Council (UNACCC) has expressed its strong support for the candidacy of Rebeca Grynspan.
Leadership with Purpose and Principle
For UNACCC, the case for Grynspan is rooted in a broader vision of renewed multilateralism—one connecting peace, development, climate action, economic opportunity and human dignity. UNACCC argues that the next Secretary-General must help transform international commitments into practical outcomes for people and communities.
Three Decades of International Experience
Among the strongest voices supporting this assessment is Ambassador Professor Karim Errouaki, Global Vice Chairman and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights of UNACCC to the European Union and the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Professor Errouaki previously served as Special Advisor to former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and former UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza. His professional relationship with Grynspan dates back to 1996, when he first met her through Professor Mayor Zaragoza while she was Vice President of Costa Rica.
Nearly three decades of observation, he says, have provided a unique perspective on her evolution from national political leadership to senior international statesmanship and leadership of UNCTAD.
“Rebeca Grynspan represents a rare convergence of intellectual capacity, institutional experience, economic understanding and moral commitment.”
“The United Nations requires leadership capable of rebuilding confidence in multilateralism and translating international commitments into meaningful results.”
— Ambassador Professor Karim Errouaki
Global Vice Chairman & High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, UNACCC
Dr. Rajat Sharma: “The World Needs Bridge-Builders”
Dr. Rajat Sharma, Founder President of UNACCC, has also conveyed his highest appreciation, encouragement and best wishes to Grynspan.
His central message is straightforward: the world needs leadership capable of connecting peace with development, climate action with economic opportunity, diplomacy with implementation, and global commitments with the realities faced by communities.
According to Dr. Sharma, Grynspan’s decades of national and international experience, economics and development background, and extensive multilateral experience deserve serious consideration by Member States.
Why This Moment Matters
The next Secretary-General will inherit a world where traditional boundaries between global challenges are disappearing.
Peace cannot be separated from development. Climate security cannot be separated from economic security. Food security cannot be separated from international stability. Human rights cannot be separated from human dignity. Sustainable development cannot be separated from financing.
Multilateral diplomacy, meanwhile, cannot succeed without public confidence. This is why UNACCC believes the next phase of UN leadership must focus on implementation, inclusion and measurable results.
A Career Spanning Government, Development and Multilateralism
Grynspan’s professional journey has included senior government responsibilities in Costa Rica, leadership roles within the UN Development Programme, regional responsibilities covering Latin America and the Caribbean, leadership of the Ibero-American Conference and, since 2021, service as Secretary-General of UNCTAD.
This breadth of experience brings together three critical perspectives: government, development economics and multilateral diplomacy.
For developing countries in particular, UNACCC argues that these perspectives are increasingly important as nations confront debt pressures, financing gaps, technological transformation, climate investment requirements and inequality.
From Diplomacy to Results
The international food, energy and financial pressures intensified by the war in Ukraine demonstrated the importance—and difficulty—of multilateral diplomacy.
The broader lesson, according to UNACCC, is that multilateralism matters most when diplomacy produces results that reach ordinary people. When food systems are secure, families are better protected. When energy becomes more secure, economies become more resilient. When development financing reaches communities, opportunity expands. When climate investment creates livelihoods, sustainability becomes tangible.
UNACCC: From Global Commitments to Local Action
UNACCC’s support is also connected to its emphasis on practical implementation.
Its vision focuses on transforming global ambitions into initiatives involving climate action, renewable energy, sustainable communities, inclusive development, employment and economic opportunity, international cooperation, peace and human dignity.
The organization argues that the Sustainable Development Goals must move from conference halls into communities. Climate commitments must become projects, sustainable development must create opportunity, and international cooperation must deliver measurable benefits.
The UN Needs Bridges, Not Walls
The United Nations cannot eliminate geopolitical competition, but it can create space for dialogue. It cannot prevent every conflict, but it can strengthen diplomacy, humanitarian cooperation and peacebuilding. It cannot solve inequality alone, but it can coordinate international action. And it cannot reverse climate change through declarations alone, but it can mobilize governments, institutions, businesses and communities around implementation.
Therefore, UNACCC believes the next Secretary-General must be more than a spokesperson. The world needs a convener, negotiator, economic thinker, development leader and defender of multilateral cooperation—and, above all, a builder of bridges.
The Choice Is About the Future of Multilateralism
The selection of the UN Secretary-General belongs to the established constitutional process of the United Nations and its Member States. UNACCC’s position is not intended to replace that process.
Instead, it seeks to contribute to the international conversation by highlighting the qualities it believes should matter: experience, integrity, institutional competence, economic understanding, diplomatic judgment, climate leadership, human dignity and the ability to restore confidence in multilateral cooperation.
From this perspective, UNACCC believes Rebeca Grynspan’s candidacy deserves serious and respectful consideration.
UNACCC’s Message: A New Chapter Must Begin
From Geneva to the wider international community, UNACCC’s message is one of constructive optimism:
“May the next chapter of the United Nations be defined by courage over division, cooperation over confrontation, implementation over rhetoric, and humanity over indifference.”
Dr. Rajat Sharma adds:
“The world does not need a stronger voice for division. It needs a stronger voice for dialogue, development, climate action, peace and human dignity.”
UNACCC and Rebeca Grynspan
United for a stronger, more effective and more human-centred multilateral future.
Unity of Nations Action for Climate Change Council (UNACCC)
Geneva • Gujarat • UK • Israel • Ghana • Germany • Mexico
UNACCC Global Governing Council: https://unaccc.org/global-governing-council/
