Mateo Velasco Alva Taps into the Power of the United Nations

This Lakehead student is already skilled in international diplomacy.

Environmental sustainability student Mateo Velasco Alva isn't standing on the sidelines when it comes to protecting the planet.

He's been involved with the youth branch of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) since he was a teen and has participated in Model United Nations conferences since middle school.

Mateo is beginning his fourth year in Lakehead University's Honours Bachelor of Arts and Science program in Environmental Sustainability. His experiences, including two summers of tree planting in northern Ontario, have strengthened his determination to become a diplomat and use his advocacy skills to help overcome the climate crisis.

"Seeing the ravages caused by extreme weather has been mind boggling," he says. "The saddest part is that the poorest countries are the most vulnerable.

We need to work together so that all people can thrive. We also need to acknowledge that humans aren't the only living creatures we share our world with."

Students gather at the United Nations

Mateo recently had the chance to practise statesmanship at the highest level through Global Model United Nationsers (GlobalMUNers), a non-profit organization that arranges student debates around the world to engage young people in civil society and give them tools to create change.

After being chosen as President of the UNEA Committee for the 2026 GlobalMUNers New York City summit, Mateo and Vice-President Inés Belkhodja spent months planning the conference. They welcomed more than 2,000 student delegates from middle schools, high schools, and universities worldwide to the United Nations headquarters.

The opening ceremony was held at the UN General Assembly, where keynote speeches were delivered by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and GlobalMUNers Director-General Pilar Sandoval.

During two daily working sessions, delegates debated plastic pollution and climate change. Mateo moderated the discussions while the vice-president took notes and answered questions.

Preparing for a humanitarian crisis

The organizers also challenged students to respond to Greenland's melting ice sheets and the resulting rise in sea levels.

"The disappearing ice sheets are leading to rising sea levels," Mateo says, "and since 60 per cent of the world's population lives in coastal regions, it will become a massive humanitarian crisis.

When we introduced the crisis, the delegates were very shocked to learn about it," he adds.

Students debated solutions and drafted an international non-binding agreement. To ratify it, delegates had to vote as their assigned countries do at actual UN summits, requiring them to develop creative approaches.

For example, students anticipated that the United States and Russia would be unlikely to accept an environmental agreement. They therefore presented the issue as a military crisis because both countries have strategically important military bases in Greenland that could be affected by melting ice.

Proposed solutions ranged from land reclamation projects to atmospheric weather stations that would provide data for mitigation plans.

The experience has strengthened Mateo's commitment to diplomacy.

"Seeing all those young people gave me hope and the belief that younger generations can solve the problems created by older generations."