Enele Sopoaga was the Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2013 to 2019. Before entering parliament Sopoaga work in the Ministry of Social Services and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sopoaga served as Tuvalu's High Commissioner to Fiji and as Tuvalu’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He has also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States. He has been described as "Tuvalu's climate change negotiator", tasked with raising the profile of the dangers posed by climate change in Tuvalu and other small island nations. He served as the main spokesman for these nations at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, and was one of the chief negotiators for global action on climate change, with Tuvalu receiving attention for its strong advocacy on the issue. Sopoaga was appointed the lead spokesperson for the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris.
Sopoaga was elected to Parliament in the 2010 general election. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Environment and Labour in Prime Minister Maatia Toafa's short-lived government from September to December 2010. Following a change of government he became the leader of the opposition. In August 2013, the government of Willy Telavi ended following a motion of no confidence. Sopoaga was elected as prime minister and appointed his ministry. (More...)