UN Climate Change will be headed by the head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, starting 17 July, and continuing until Patrica Espinosa’s permanent replacement is found
Ibrahim Thiaw, a Mauritanian diplomat and head UN body to fight desertification, was appointed interim executive secretary for UN Climate Change.
Thiaw will take over the role when Patricia Espinosa, who has been in the job six years, steps down next month and “until the selection process for the new executive secretary is completed,” a letter to parties, seen by Climate Home News, states.
A UN Climate Change spokesperson previously told Climate Home that Espinosa’s last day was on 15 July. Thiaw will begin on 17 July.
Espinosa informed staff of the decision Monday and UN Climate Change sent today a note to governments.
Since January 2019, Thiaw has been the UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s executive secretary. He called for a closer connection between land management and climate action in this role.
#ClimateAction is strongly linked to #land management. We can make a negative, circular relationship a positive one. Let us encourage closer collaboration, break down our silos, set a new policy, and invest in a different way. #ClimateDialogues @UNFCCC pic.twitter.com/yp3huto3LM
— Ibrahim Thiaw (@ibrahimthiaw) November 30, 2020
Before that, Thiaw was the UN Secretary-General’s special adviser for the Sahel region of Africa and the assistant secretary general of the UN Environment Programme.
He has a degree from forestry and worked ten years in the rural ministry of Mauritania. This large, sparsely-populated country spans most of the west Sahara desert.
Espinosa was rumoured as stepping down after her second term as climate chief. However, the UN was slow in starting the recruitment process. The job advertisement was only published on 13 May.
Friday is the deadline for applications to replace her permanent replacement. Alok Sharma (from the UK), is currently interested in the position.
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However, three of the five executive secretary have been European so it is likely that developing nations, especially in Africa, will argue that the position should be given to someone from their respective regions.
The job advert states that female applicants are “especially welcome” to apply for the $207,000 a year role based in Bonn, Germany.
Climate Home’s sources have suggested several African and Asian women as possible contenders including the environment ministers of Rwanda, Egypt and Nigeria and the finance minister of Indonesia.
It is unclear how Thiaw plans to combine his UNCCD role and run UN Climate Change before the Cop27 climate negotiations in Egypt in November.
Andrea Meza Murillo, a former environment minister from Costa Rica, was named deputy head of UNCCD earlier this year.
Thiaw and the UNCCD had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Source: Climate Change News
