DECEMBER
ILO
DIRECTOR-GENERAL REAPPOINTED
Juan Somavia of Chile has been elected to a third term as
Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The
decision was taken at the 303rd session of the ILO Governing Body.
ILO Governing Body.
NOVEMBER
ASSISTANT
SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION NAMED
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Margareta Wahlström
(Sweden) as Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and
the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the implementation of
the Hyogo Framework for Action in the Secretariat for the International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
More information.
GEF COUNCIL
REELECTS CEO
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council re-elected Monique Barbut
as CEO during its biannual meeting, which took place from 11-13 November
2008, in Washington DC, US.
More information.
NEW DSD DIRECTOR TAKES POST
On 13 November 2008, Tariq Banuri (Pakistan) took up the post of
Director of the Division for Sustainable Development, in the UN’s
Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Banuri comes to the UN from
the Stockholm Environment Institute. He has also held positions in the
Pakistani Government.
More information.
JAN McALPINE TAKES UP UNFF DIRECTOR’S POST
Jan McAlpine of the United States has been has been appointed to the
post of the Director of the UN Forum on Forests Secretariat. McAlpine
has been part of the UNFF and its predecessor processes for 15 years as
the Senior Negotiator and Forest Lead for the US Department of State,
and has helped shape actions, decisions and resolutions within and
outside the UN system. The appointment to the UNFF Director’s post was
made on 5 November 2008.
UNFF media release.
OCTOBER
NEW ITLOS SWORN IN, PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT
ELECTED
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has announced
that Boualem Bouguetaia (Algeria) and Vladimir Vladimirovich Golitsyn
(Russian Federation) were sworn in as members of the Tribunal on 1
October 2008. The two judges were elected on 13 June 2008 at the 18th
Meeting of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to
serve a term of nine years, commencing 1 October 2008. Golitsyn
previously served as Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law
of the Sea, from 2004–2007. On the same day, Judge José Luis Jesus was
elected as President of ITLOS for the period 2008–2011 by the 21 members
of the Tribunal. The President is elected for a period of three years
and may be re-elected. Furthermore, on 2 October 2008, Judge Helmut
Tuerk (Austria) was elected as Vice-President for the same period.
ITLOS Press Release, 1 October 2008.
ITLOS Press Release, 1 October 2008.
ITLOS Press Release, 2 October 2008.
SEPTEMBER
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS TWO NEW
CLIMATE CHANGE ENVOYS
The UN Secretary-General has appointed
Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana, and Srgjan Kerim,
outgoing President of the UN General Assembly, as Special Envoys on
climate change. They will join two other Special Envoys that were
appointed in May 2007: Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian Prime
Minister; and Ricardo Lagos Escobar, former President of Chile. The
envoys support the Secretary-General in his consultations with heads
of State and government, and will push for progress in the Poznan
Climate Change talks in December 2008.
UN News Centre Press Release, 19 September 2008
DIRECTOR OF UNFF SECRETARIAT ANNOUNCED
The UN Secretary-General has approved the selection of Jan McAlpine
(US) as the next Director of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF)
Secretariat (IISD RS sources).
DSD
DIRECTOR ANNOUNCED
Reports indicate that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has approved
the selection of Tariq Banuri as the next Director of the Division
for Sustainable Development (DSD) in the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (DESA). Banuri is expected to take his post
during October 2008, moving from his present position with the
Stockholm Environment Institute (IISD RS sources).
GLOBAL WIND ENERGY COUNCIL APPOINTS POLICY
DIRECTOR
The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has appointed Liming Qiao as
the organization’s new Policy Director. Liming will be in charge of
GWEC’s lobbying efforts, with a particular focus on the
international climate negotiations. Before joining GWEC, she worked
with WWF in the China Climate and Energy Programme. She took up her
new role on 1 September 2008.
More information.
CLIMATE COMMUNITY MOURNS PASSING OF BERNHARD
SCHLAMADINGER
Members of the international climate change community are mourning
the passing of Dr. Bernhard Schlamadinger in August 2008. Dr. Schlamadinger was widely known for his work on lands and forestry
issues in the context of climate change, and was the author of many
papers and reports on these topics. He was involved with the Climate
Strategies academic network and Joanneum Research, and was a
co-founder of TerraCarbon, which provides advice and support for
clients investing in land use and forestry carbon projects. He had
also worked on various IPCC reports.
More information.
NEW UNEP
ROA DIRECTOR APPOINTED
Mounkaila Goumandakoye was confirmed in August 2008 for the position
of Director of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Regional Office
for Africa (ROA). His previous experience has included positions
with the UN Development Programme and as a member of Niger’s
delegation to the negotiating process for the UN Convention to
Combat Desertification (IISDRS Sources).
FSC APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR, BOARD
Andre Giacini de Freitas has been selected to take over the office
of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Executive Director. A forester
by training, he brings extensive and broad experience working with FSC
in Brazil, and has been leading the FSC Policy and Standards and
Communications Programmes since 2006. FSC members are also in the
process of electing three new appointees to the FSC Board of Directors.
More information: FSC Media Releases,
28 August 2008 and
2 June 2008.
FAZEL TO HEAD SECRETARIAT OF CONSERVATION COMMONS ON
BEHALF OF UNEP-WCMC
Asghar Fazel has been introduced as the new head of the Secretariat of
the Conservation Commons, on behalf of the UN Environment Programme –
World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) (IISDRS Sources).
AUGUST
JOHN KILANI
JOINS UNFCCC SECRETARIAT
John
Kilani, a South African national with a background in the private
sector, academia and government, has joined the UNFCCC Secretariat as
director in support of the Kyoto Protocol’s market mechanisms. Kilani
recently represented Qatar at international climate negotiations, and
chaired the Clean Development Mechanism’s Executive Board in 2004.
UNFCCC announcement, June 2008.
JUNE
UNWTO’s FRANGIALLI TO STEP DOWN
The UN World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Secretary-General Francesco
Frangialli, in a 13 June 2008 address to the UNWTO Executive Council,
announced his plans to step down at the beginning of 2009.
More information.
WTO APPELLATE BODY WELCOMES TWO NEW MEMBERS
Yuejiao Zhang (China) and Shotaro Oshima (Japan) were sworn-in on 20 May
2008 as members of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body.
More information.
NEW FSC DIRECTOR
APPOINTED
Heiko Liedeker is stepping down from his position as the Executive
Director of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC Board of
Directors has appointed Andre Giacini de Freitas as the new Executive
Director. Giacini de Freitas had been leading the FSC Standards and
Policy and Communications programmes since 2006.
MAY
CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTALIST CHARLES CACCIA PASSES
AWAY
Charles Caccia, a forestry economist who served as Canadian environment
minister from 1983-1984 and Chair of the House of Commons Standing
Committee on environment and Sustainable Development (1994-2004), passed
away on 4 May 2008.
More information.
NEW WIPO DIRECTOR GENERAL NOMINATED
Francis Gurry (Australia) has been nominated by the Coordination
Committeee to be the next Director General of the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO). The successor of current Director General
Kamil Idris (Sudan) will be appointed by the WIPO General Assembly at
its next meeting, which is scheduled to take place on 22-30 September
2008.
More information.
New General Director of the
World Water Council appointed
Ger Bergkamp has been appointed as General Director of the World
Water Council, effective 1 June 2008. Daniel Zimmer, who has served
as Executive Director of the Council since November of 2001, will
continue as Associate Director in charge of the Preparation of the
Fifth World Water Forum, until June 2009.
More information.
APRIL
UNDP ANNOUNCES NEW UNIFEM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced, on 7 April
2008, that Inés Alberdi (Spain) has been appointed as the new Executive
Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). She was selected
by UNDP Administrator Ad Melkert in consultation with UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UNIFEM Consultative Committee.
More information.
MARCH
IPCC AUTHOR APPOINTED AS SENIOR
FELLOW AT UNEP-WCMC
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and California State University,
Chico, have announced the appointment of Dr. Jeff Price as Senior Fellow
for Climate Change and Biodiversity at the UNEP World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in Cambridge, UK. Dr. Price, who was a
lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change’s (IPCC)
Third and Fourth Assessment Reports, will work with UNEP-WCMC during
2008 to assist the Centre to assimilate the most recent information and
research on climate change and its impacts on biodiversity.
More information.
UN APPOINTS SPECIAL
ADVISER ON INNOVATIVE FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Philippe Douste-Blazy – a
former French Government Minister of Health and Foreign Affairs – as
his Special Adviser on Innovative Financing for Development. Mr.
Douste-Blazy will hold the rank of UN Under-Secretary-General.
More information, 19 February 2008.
FEBRUARY
WTO APPOINTS TRIPS AND CTE COMMITTEE CHAIRS FOR 2008
The WTO has appointed new Chairs for its committees and negotiating
bodies. Ambassador Gail Marie Mathurin (Jamaica) will chair the Council
for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS);
Ambassador Wieslaw Karsz (Poland) will chair the Committee on Trade and
Environment (CTE); and Ambassador Manuel Teehankee (Philippines) will
chair the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Environment
until the next Ministerial Conference, which has not been scheduled. The
chairs of the eight Doha-Round negotiating bodies will remain unchanged.
More information.
NEW WSSCC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NAMED
Jon Lane was appointed as the New Executive Director of the Water Supply
and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), which was created in 1990
by the UN General Assembly to complete work left unfinished at the close
of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade
(1981-1990). The role of the Collaborative Council is to serve as an
international coordinating body to enhance collaboration in the water
supply and sanitation sector, specifically in order to attain universal
coverage of water and sanitation services for poor people around the
world.
More information.
HANDOVER
CEREMONY OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE GROUP OF 77
On 11 January 2008, the Group of 77 and China held a ceremony for the
handover of the chairmanship from Pakistan to Antigua and Barbuda.
Ambassador Munir Akram, from Pakistan, represented the G-77 and China
during 2007. The in-coming Chairs for 2008 are the Prime Minister of
Antigua and Barbuda, H.E. Winston Baldwin Spencer, and Ambassador John
William Ashe. The nomination was seen as recognition of the role played
by small island developing states in the development dialogue.
More information.
WORLD BANK APPOINTS NEW CHIEF ECONOMIST
Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, announced on 4
February 2008 that Justin Lin (China) would become the new Chief
Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics at the
World Bank. Lin succeeds
Francois Bourguignon, who retired from the Bank
Group last year.
More information.
JANUARY
UNFF DIRECTOR RETIRES
After serving as the Head and Coordinator of the Secretariat of the UN
Forum on Forests (UNFF) since 2002, Pekka Patosaari retired from the UN
on 31 December 2007.
More information.
If you
would like to submit details of
recent appointments or departures,
send a message to
Diego Noguera, IISD
up to top
Appointments, Departures