Introducing The George Institute’s COP 28 Delegation

We are delighted to announce that The George Institute will be sending a delegation of experts and advocates to the Conference of Parties (COP 28), the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held from 30 November to 12 December in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Having attended COP for the first time in 2022 with the Imperial College London delegation, The George Institute values the opportunity to engage with this unique platform for global collaboration, policy development, networking, knowledge transfer, and advocacy, all of which are essential for advancing evidence-informed action on planetary health.

Meet the COP28 delegation

We are thrilled to have a diverse and cross-disciplinary team attending from Australia, The United Kingdom (UK) and India – collectively advocating for world leaders to centre the voices of communities whose health, wellbeing and futures have been most impacted, ensuring they are at the heart of national climate action plans and debate.

Week 1

Chhavi Bhandari

Chhavi is Head, Impact and Engagement (India and Multilaterals), working from India on a programme of advocacy, policy, stakeholder engagement and thought leadership. She is the Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) lead for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Environmental Change and a member of the WHO-Civil Society Working Group to Advance Action on Climate & Health. She also co-leads the West Pacific and South-East Asia regional hub for COP² advocacy network.

Veronica Le Nevez

Veronica Le Nevez is Head of Impact and Engagement Australia and leads the Institute’s advocacy and policy engagement activities in Australia and the Pacific region. Veronica has led advocacy for The George Institute for Global Health on the National Climate and Health Strategy and Australia’s engagement in global climate initiatives. Prior to joining The George Institute, led the development of a research initiative on the impacts of climate change on Australia’s health system, and coordinated a collaboration on climate and health. Veronica also led a climate change mitigation policy team in the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, and worked on many other environmental issues, including air pollution, fisheries, marine conservation, forestry and environmental impacts of agriculture. Veronica has a Bachelor of Science in Resource and Environmental Management, and a Master of Environmental Science from Macquarie University.

Week 2

Claudia Batz

Claudia is a Policy and Advocacy Advisor (UK and Multilaterals), working from the UK on a programme of policy, stakeholder engagement and thought leadership. She works with the World Health Organization and other global health organisations and networks, also conducting advocacy activities focused on the UK, where The George Institute works in collaboration with Imperial College London. Claudia co-leads the Action for Global Health Working Group on Climate Change and Equity, and the West Pacific and South-East Asia regional hub for COP² advocacy network. COP2 is a growing community of companies, governments, organizations, and institutions focused on strengthening the human operating systems needed to address climate change.

Simone Pettigrew

Simone is Director, Health Promotion and Behaviour Change at The George institute for Global Health, and a Professorial Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales. She is the lead researcher of the Healthy Food, Healthy Planet, Healthy People Centre of Research Excellence, which focuses on developing and disseminating tools to enable consumers, producers, and governments to improve the nutritional quality and sustainability of the food supply.

Get in touch

As we prepare for COP28, we welcome connections with other delegates to learn about upcoming plans for engaging with the Conference. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or are interested in scheduling a meeting at the COP.

Stay tuned: Follow us on social media for the latest updates on our activities and progress at COP 28.