Paris — On the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum, María Fernanda Espinosa, Co-Chair of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI) and former President of the United Nations General Assembly, spoke with GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis about the urgent need to make global peace efforts more proactive through preventive diplomacy.
Espinosa stressed that meaningful UN reform must begin with a shift from reaction to prevention. “It means building peace, having a very strong and well-equipped intellectually oversight machinery, to have a scenario-building machinery, to have early warning systems in place,” she said. Calling for “a refocus, not austerity,” she emphasized the need to strengthen early-warning systems and institutional foresight. “One dollar in prevention saves a thousand in response,” she noted, highlighting both the cost-effectiveness and the moral imperative of preventive action.
Addressing the global climate agenda, Espinosa warned that current progress “is not matching the science” and urged accelerated collective action ahead of COP30 in Brazil. She underscored that Latin America must lead with unity and resilience, positioning the region as a constructive force in advancing global sustainability and cooperation.
Her remarks echo the mission of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI) — a joint effort co-chaired by two former Presidents of the UN General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa and Vuk Jeremić, which promotes early-warning mechanisms, mediation networks, and cross-regional cooperation to prevent the outbreak of violent conflict and strengthen global stability.
