Achim Steiner

Achim Steiner (born 1961 in Brazil) is a German expert in environmental politics. From 2001 to 2006 he was Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Since June 2006 he has been Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Steiner grew up in Brazil and educated in England at Dover College. He studied philosophy, political science and economics at the University of Oxford. He received a Master degree in Economics and regional planning from the University of London. He also was a visiting scientist at German Development Institute in Berlin and at Harvard Business School. After leaving university Steiner worked for several local environmental organisations before he worked for IUCN in Washington, D.C. and Asia. As a Senior Policy Adviser of the IUCN Global Policy Unit in Washington D.C., he spearheaded the development of new partnerships between the environmental community and the World Bank and United Nations system. In South-East Asia, he worked on a programme for sustainable management of Mekong River watersheds and community-based natural resources management. In 1998 he became Secretary-General of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) in Cape Town, South Africa. In that capacity, he managed a global programme of work to bring together the public sector, civil society, and the private sector in a global policy process on dams and development.

In 2001 he returned to IUCN as Director-General, where he was responsible for managing and overseeing 1,000 staff stationed in 42 countries.

Steiner is well known for speaking on climate change. He buys personal climate quotas to compensate for all his traveling. [ Aftenposten: Environmental advocate arrived in private jet [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1820319.ece] ]

Steiner was nominated by UN general secretary Kofi Annan as new UNEP Director in March 2006. In this office he succeeded Klaus Töpfer. Kofi Annan in March appointed Achim Steiner. Steiner was part of the panel that gave Annan an award a couple of months earlier. [Agence France Presse: Annan cancels plans to use prize money for new foundation [http://www.unep.org/cpi/briefs/2006May09.doc] ]

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oxford and his Master of Arts from the University of London with specialization in development economics, regional planning, and international development and environment policy. He also studied at the German Development Institute in Berlin and at the Harvard Business School

Steiner also serves on a number of advisory boards, including the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development(CCICED) and the Environmental Advisory Council(ENVAC) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD).

References

External links

* [http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=43&ArticleID=5252&l=en Profile at UNEP website]