Achim Steiner

Achim Steiner
Born 1961
Nationality Brazilian, German
Alma mater Worcester College, Oxford, University of London, Harvard Business School
Occupation Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
Predecessor Klaus Töpfer

Achim Steiner (born 1961 in Brazil) is an expert in environmental issues and politics. He is Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP. Before joining UNEP, he was Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and before that Secretary General of the World Commission on Dams.

Education

Achim Steiner was born in Brazil in 1961 and holds German as well as Brazilian citizenship. He obtained a BA from the University of Oxford and an MA from the University of London, specializing in development economics, regional planning, international development and environment policy. He also studied at the German Development Institute in Berlin and the Harvard Business School. [1]

Career before UNEP

Steiner started his career in 1989 at the Rural Regional Development Department, GTZ in Germany. From 1991 to 1997 he worked for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Southern Africa and Washington DC. He was Chief Technical Adviser of the Mekong River Commission (1997-1998) before becoming Secretary-General of the World Commission on Dams. In 2001 he returned to IUCN as Director-General.[2]

UNEP

The United Nations General Assembly in 2006 elected Steiner Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme for a four-year term. His mandate so far has been extended twice. The Secretary-General appointed Steiner as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), where he served from March 2009 to May 2011. Within the UN system Steiner also chairs the High-level Committee on Programmes of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination and the United Nations Environment Management Group. He serves on a number of international advisory boards, including the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED).[3] On May 3 2016, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the post of Executive Director of UNEP will be taken over by Erik Solheim when Steiner's third term of office ends in June 2016.[4]

Honours and awards

Steiner has received a number of honours and awards for his work:

References

External links

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