Antonio G. M. La Viña

Antonio G.M. La Viña is currently executive director of the Manila Observatory, the leading climate change, disaster risk, and sustainable development science organization of the Philippines. He comes to the Observatory after stints as dean of the Ateneo School of Government, senior fellow and Biological Resources Program director at the World Resources Institute, and environment undersecretary of the Philippines. He was the Philippines’s legal advisor at the first Conference of the Parties (COP) in Berlin, Germany, in 1995; its chief negotiator at the Kyoto Protocol negotiations in 1997; and a lead climate change negotiator for the country since the 2009 Copenhagen COP and up to Paris and Marrakech in 2015 and 2016, respectively. La Viña is also known for his facilitation roles at the UNFCCC on forest and land use issues and his advocacy for human rights in the climate negotiations. His views are personal and do not reflect official Philippines positions. His writings can be accessed here.