Pernille Ironside, UNICEF Pakistan

Pernille Ironside arrived in Pakistan at a moment when the country’s children are bearing the sharpest edge of a climate crisis they did nothing to cause. With over two decades of humanitarian experience across conflict and disaster zones, she has made climate resilience a non-negotiable thread running through UNICEF’s work here, from clean water access to flood response. She has been direct in stating that Pakistan’s children, nearly half the country’s population, cannot realise their potential if the systems meant to protect them keep collapsing under extreme weather. Her focus is not just on emergency response but on building the kind of durable infrastructure that does not wash away with every monsoon.