The new head is expected to take up his duties “soon”, said the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Simon Steele, a former Grenada minister, was appointed UN climate chief on Monday as the “losses and damages” of countries on the frontline facing the effects of global warming, such as his, become a key challenge of the climate negotiations.
The long-time climate change advocate will succeed Mexico’s Patricia Espinosa as executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which hosts all climate negotiations, including those envisaged in the Paris Agreement.
The new chief is expected to take up his duties “soon”, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, hinting that Simon Steele will be in place for the upcoming UN climate conference, COP27, in Egypt in November.
Steele’s appointment by the secretary-general was approved by the UNFCCC bureau, which includes representatives from all regional groups.
A member of the government of the small Caribbean island nation of Grenada from March 2013 to June 2022, Simon Steele notably served for five years as Minister for the Environment and Climate Resilience, relentlessly calling during the Climate Conferences to more to be done against global warming, particularly in the context of the High Ambition Coalition where countries are pushing for more ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gases.
“Congratulations to one of the most dedicated climate advocates in the Caribbean,” tweeted the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), of which Grenada is a member.
“Congratulations to Simon Steele. I have worked very closely with Simon over the past two years and know he will do a great job,” COP26 Climate Conference President Alok Sharma tweeted.
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