Luis Gilberto Murillo-Urrutia

Luis Gilberto Murillo-Urrutia,

Luis Gilberto Murillo is the Colombian Ambassador to the United States. A well-known national political figure in Colombia, Murillo has served as Governor of the predominantly Afro-Colombian state of Chocó, as Presidential Advisor and Director for the Todos Somos PAZcifico Development Plan, and later as Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development. As Minister, Murillo, within the framework of the implementation of the historic 2016 peace accord, tripled the size of Colombia’s naturally protected area as a key measure to fight deforestation and to protect biodiversity. He was a central figure in leading the formulation and implementation of Colombia’s national climate change policy framework under the Paris Agreement, Colombia’s national climate change management law, Colombia’s national carbon tax, and Colombia’s voluntary carbon market.

In 2021-22, Murillo was a Martin Luther King Fellow at the Environmental Solutions Initiative, where he conducted research on environmental justice with a focus on carbon policy and its impacts on Afro-descendant communities in Colombia.