Juan Fernando Lugris (born December 17, 1971) is an Uruguayan

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

specialized in multilateral negotiations related to the environment, human rights, trade and regional integration, currently serving as the

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. Lugris became the first Permanent Representative of Uruguay to

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

and UN-Habitat and was the Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) in charge of developing a legally binding global instrument on mercury known as the

Minamata Convention on Mercury The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. The convention was a result of three years of meetin ...

Background and earlier life

Fernando Lugris was born on December 17, 1971, in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. Lugris completed his bachelor's degree in international relations at the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic ( es, Universidad de la República, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is Uruguay's oldest public university. It is by far the country's largest university, as well as the second largest public university in South America and t ...

in Montevideo, Uruguay and later on went to study at the

Presbyterian College Presbyterian College (PC) is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Clinton, South Carolina. History Presbyterian College was founded in 1880 by the William Plumer Jacobs. He had served as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Cl ...

in Clinton, South Carolina, USA; at the Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi, India. He completed his diplomatic training in 1999 at the Diplomatic Academy of Uruguay.

Diplomatic career

Ambassador Lugris was designated as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uruguay to the People's Republic of China and to the Republic of Mongolia in 2015. Before that, he went on becoming the first Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). During that time he was also designated as Deputy Director General of the Political Affairs department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay. Lugris environmental work gained widespread recognition after becoming the Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) which led to the creation of the

, an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

and mercury compounds. He also became the Political Focal Point of Uruguay to the

Global Environmental Facility The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (POPs ...

(GEF) acting as an advisor to the Uruguayan Government during the 4th GEF and as a representative of the LAC recipient countries at the GEF5 replenishment process. He was the National Coordinator of Uruguay of UNASUR, in charge of the Uruguayan Presidency of the South American Union of Nations. His first post as a diplomat serving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay was

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland, acting as a Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the UN and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

(WTO). He was Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Uruguay in Berlin, Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lugris, Fernando Ambassadors of Uruguay 1971 births Ambassadors of Uruguay to China Living people