On March 9, 2021, the third "POP Climate Leadership Conversation: A Tribute to our Chief Mentor" was held with H.E. Dr. Rosalía Arteaga, former president of Ecuador and Former Secretary-General of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization. According to H.E. Arteaga, leadership is about taking action and being a good example rather than giving orders. Effective leadership means leading by action.

When Ricardo Andrés Delgado from POP Venezuela asked about leadership in conservation policies, H.E. Arteaga spoke about the difficulty but necessity of bringing everyone together and setting expectations; “Everything we do is affecting others and we need to keep it in mind. We cannot be selfish when we talk about the environment, we need to think of each other. We are all connected and depend on the Earth.” Vanessa from El Salvador asked about leadership in education to which H.E. Arteaga pointed out the importance of both schools and parents to teach the values of collaboration and empathy. It is necessary to teach about environmental protection as education is key to fighting climate change.

When Omar Montero from POP Venezuela asked about the role of the youth in advocating for education policies, H.E. Arteaga spoke of the importance and impact of youth mobilization. She spoke about how the youth have the possibility to learn a lot, but there is a need for them to understand how to apply this knowledge. Finally, Ana Hanhausen from the POP Family asked about women’s leadership. To this, H.E. spoke about how women can be very influential as many are mothers and teachers, which makes them great at implementing solutions to climate change.

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Watch the full conversation