Who Writes the Rules? Diplomacy, Science, and Nature at the United Nations

About

A Fireside Chat With Sofie Sandström Jaffe (Permanent Observer of IUCN to the UN)

Who shapes global agreements, and how are decisions made at the United Nations? Drawing on her experience representing Finland and the European Union in the UN's Second Committee and her current role as Permanent Observer of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to the UN, Sofie Sandström Jaffe will share insights into how diplomacy, scientific expertise, and international negotiations shape global policymaking, including efforts to advance nature and biodiversity conservation.

The conversation will be moderated by Sheila Olmstead, Cornell Atkinson Scholar and Professor in the Brooks School of Public Policy.

Bio: Sofie Sandström Jaffe is the Permanent Observer for the IUCN to the United Nations. Her role is to represent IUCN at the UN, ensuring that IUCN's influence and impact in prioritized international policy processes is increased. In addition, she plays an important role in gathering and disseminating information within IUCN regarding relevant processes in which the Union could be influential in furthering the nature and biodiversity conservation message across the wider UN agenda. This information is regularly communicated across the Secretariat, Commissions, National Committees and Members. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Sandström Jaffe served as Senior Adviser on climate, environment and sustainable development at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations in New York, representing both her country and the European Union in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial), beginning in 2019. From 2017 to 2019, she was Senior Adviser on gender in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, as well as Assistant Ukraine Desk Officer, from 2016 to 2017. Stationed in both Geneva and Nairobi, she was Project Officer at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), from 2013 to 2016. Between 2011 and 2013, Ms. Sandström Jaffe was the Institutional Funding Officer at Trocaire, in Kenya, and the Development Programme Coordinator at the Gothenburg Initiative, in Somalia, from 2010 to 2011. Prior to that, she was at Oxfam, where she served as the Regional Programme Funding Coordinator, stationed in Kenya, between 2006 and 2010, and as the Humanitarian Funding Coordinator, stationed in the United Kingdom, between 2005 and 2006. Ms. Sandström Jaffe received her Ph.D. in biological and environmental science from the University of Helsinki in 2022. She also holds a Master of Science in environmental management from the University of London (2019) and a Master of Science in social sciences from the University of Helsinki (2005).

Reception to Follow Register by November 3, 2026