Full Name
President Ivan Duque Marquez
Job Title
Former President
Current Employer
Republic of Colombia
Speaker Bio
Iván Duque was the youngest elected President in Colombia’s history at the age of 41 in 2018. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Transformational Distinguished Fellow at Oxford University, a Distinguished Fellow at WRI, a Leadership Fellow at FIU, a Distinguished Fellow at the Bezos Earth Fund, and an Ambassador for the World Coalition for Nature. He is a global expert in sustainability, conservation, green finance, and energy transition.
He had a frontal fight against drug trafficking and organized crime groups, presenting the highest number of captures of high and middle-level crime leaders and dismantling illegal groups in a four-year period.
The Government of Colombia, under his leadership, created and implemented the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelans, the most extensive refugee assimilation program in the world, regularizing 1.8 million adults and minors to establish their lives with dignity and opportunities.
President Duque led the effort toward environmental protection in the region, especially in the Amazon. Among his many achievements, the following are the most notable during his presidency:
Expansion of environmentally protected areas in Colombia to conserve 34% of the country’s territory.
Launch of Operation “Artemisa” to combat deforestation.
Creation and promotion of the Leticia Pact for the protection of the Amazon Rainforest.
Increased electricity production from non-conventional renewable sources by more than 100 percent to protect the environment and fight against climate change.
He also solved the social and economic problems derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, first by more than doubling the health sector’s attention capabilities nationwide and then by decreeing a mandatory preventive intelligent isolation policy throughout the country in March 2020. Duque established the largest social protection network in Colombian history with the health sector’s improvement. These measures were enhanced with fiscal responsibility, enabling the best economic performance in the region from an economic resilience point of view, as was related by several international organizations.
He had a frontal fight against drug trafficking and organized crime groups, presenting the highest number of captures of high and middle-level crime leaders and dismantling illegal groups in a four-year period.
The Government of Colombia, under his leadership, created and implemented the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelans, the most extensive refugee assimilation program in the world, regularizing 1.8 million adults and minors to establish their lives with dignity and opportunities.
President Duque led the effort toward environmental protection in the region, especially in the Amazon. Among his many achievements, the following are the most notable during his presidency:
Expansion of environmentally protected areas in Colombia to conserve 34% of the country’s territory.
Launch of Operation “Artemisa” to combat deforestation.
Creation and promotion of the Leticia Pact for the protection of the Amazon Rainforest.
Increased electricity production from non-conventional renewable sources by more than 100 percent to protect the environment and fight against climate change.
He also solved the social and economic problems derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, first by more than doubling the health sector’s attention capabilities nationwide and then by decreeing a mandatory preventive intelligent isolation policy throughout the country in March 2020. Duque established the largest social protection network in Colombian history with the health sector’s improvement. These measures were enhanced with fiscal responsibility, enabling the best economic performance in the region from an economic resilience point of view, as was related by several international organizations.
Speaking At
