Leota Namulauulu Lalomanu Kosi Latu is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

n lawyer and diplomat who served as Director-General of the

Pacific Regional Environment Programme The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is an intergovernmental organisation based in Apia, Samoa with more than 90 staff members. The organisation is held accountable by the governments and administrations of the Pa ...

from 2016 to 2022. He is the brother of rugby player and lawyer

George Latu Matafeo George Latu (born January 1, 1965) is a Samoan lawyer and former dual international rugby union player who has played as a prop for both the Samoa national rugby union team and the Tonga national rugby union team. Since ending his rugby c ...

. Latu was educated at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He worked as a prosecutor for the Samoan Attorney General's Office before moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to work as a lawyer for the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

. From 2006 to 2008 he worked for the

United Nations Office for Project Services The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is a United Nations agency dedicated to implementing infrastructure and procurement projects for the United Nations System, international financial institutions, governments and other partne ...

alongside the

Pacific Islands Forum The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...

secretariat in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. In 2008 he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. In September 2015 he was selected as its Director-General. From the beginning of his term as Director he was a strong voice on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, urging Pacific nations to speak up and demanding rich nations show greater ambition in reducing emissions. At the

2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as the Katowice Climate Change Conference or COP24, was the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It was held bet ...

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

he urged countries to hold temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In 2019, he opened the Pacific Climate Change Centre in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

, to serve as a regional research center on the issue. Other issues he focused on included nuclear waste shipments and waste dumping by fishing boats. His term as Director-General ended on 3 April 2022. He was replaced by Sefanaia Nawadra.

References

Living people University of Canterbury alumni Samoan lawyers Samoan civil servants Samoan diplomats Year of birth missing (living people) {{Samoa-bio-stub