Dr Sally Box

Division Head, International Climate Negotiations, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Dr Sally Box is the Head of the International Climate Negotiations Division in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sally is also Australia’s Head of Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Prior to this role, Sally served as the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Commissioner, where she led the development and implementation of the Threatened Species Strategy and the environmental response to the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

Sally has over 18 years’ experience working in the Australian Public Service in the fields of climate change and environment policy development, program delivery, regulation, and communications. She has a PhD in Plant Sciences from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Adelaide.

ABSTRACT

As Australia’s Head of Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Dr Sally Box leads Australia’s engagement with the peak international body responsible for advancing global action and multilateral cooperation on climate change. In 2026, Australia has a higher profile and responsibility as stewards of the UNFCCC process with COP31 host Türkiye, including in its role as COP31 President of Negotiations and working to organise the pre-COP meeting in Fiji and Tuvalu, in partnership with the Pacific.

The UNFCCC provides a platform to examine the connections between climate change and agriculture, including issues related to reducing agricultural emissions, addressing food security, and enhancing climate resilient agriculture. This is playing out both in the formal negotiations, as well as through the Action Agenda, which brings together stakeholders to advance specific initiatives and partnerships to advance climate action in agriculture. Australia is playing an active role on these issues, both at a national level, as well as through our work with the Pacific and with other key partners.