Client: Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Event: UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), Montreal, December 2022 Scope: Official photography team lead, 14-day conference, 190+ country delegations
The Assignment
In December 2022, Montreal hosted COP15 — the UN Biodiversity Conference. Originally scheduled for Kunming, China, the summit was relocated to Canada on short notice. The stakes were clear: a once-in-a-generation multilateral event, covered by every major international news organization, with a global audience watching in real time.
I was awarded the federal contract by Environment and Climate Change Canada to lead the official photography team for the conference.
Winning the Federal RFP
The procurement process was among the most rigorous of my 25-year career in international conference photography.
To qualify, I submitted a verified audit of two decades of large-scale event coverage — documented proof of continuous work at events with 2,000 to 6,000+ attendees. My full team underwent RCMP security screening to obtain clearance for the Blue Zones: the restricted areas where delegations negotiate. And the contract specified a 20-minute turnaround from capture to publication on the UN's global Flickr distribution feed.
That last requirement is worth pausing on. At a summit tracked by Reuters, Nature, and every major wire service, a missed delivery window is a missed news cycle. The workflow had to be built for zero tolerance.
The Operational Model
I led a four-person photography team covering 190+ delegate pavilions, plenaries, side events, and demonstrations across the 14-day conference. A dedicated media wrangler stationed at our hub — positioned directly adjacent to the ECCC communications team and the international press gallery — managed a continuous loop: collecting memory cards, culling selects, and editing to UN neutral standards.
Images reached the global wire feeds while speakers were often still at the podium.
The Defining Frame
The Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework was formally adopted at 3:30 AM on the conference's final night. As the UN's designated photographer, I held priority placement separate from the press pool. The result was a clean, symmetrical frame of the gavel coming down at the moment of consensus — not fought for from the edge of a scrum, but anticipated and positioned for.
That image led international coverage.
Results
Countries Covered
190+ across 14 days.
Image delivery window
20 minutes, capture, edit, post to global feed
Photo credit
Julian Haber / UN Biodiversity
Global Syndication
- Nature (the journal) — two separate images, CC BY 2.0 licence
- Reuters — reuters.com, global wire distribution
- The Guardian — two separate articles, December 19, 2022
- Euronews Green
- Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
- Montreal Gazette (print edition, front section)
- La Presse (French-language, Montreal)
- Japan Today
- Sierra Club Magazine
- Colorado Springs Gazette
The Guardian's credit line read: "Julian Haber / Courtesy of Environment and Climate Change Canada" — naming ECCC directly as the source.
What This Means for Your Organization
COP15 compressed every variable that makes international conference photography difficult: a competitive federal procurement process, restricted-access security protocols, a real-time publishing workflow, and 14 consecutive days of coverage with no margin for error.
If your organization is planning an international summit, a federal or intergovernmental conference, or a high-visibility event that requires both documentary authority and operational precision, I'd be happy to have a quick discussion about what that kind of coverage looks like.
Planning an international conference, summit, or corporate event? I'd be happy to have a quick discussion about what coverage looks like.