For information only - not an official document
UNIS/OUS/173
24 January 2013
DAVOS/VIENNA, 24 January (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) - The Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh K. Yumkella, is playing a leading role in the 43rd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place this week in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos.
Director General Yumkella will join Heads of State, policymakers, economists and chief executives for a series of meetings addressing a plethora of global challenges.
On Friday morning, he will be the special guest at an interactive session, 'Building Energy Access through Cross-sector Partnerships', which brings together business leaders from various industries, investors and policymakers in order to discuss how to scale up new business models. Yumkella, who spearheads UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, will give his insights on the key challenges and opportunities in relation to energy access.
In the 'Pathways to a Sustainable Future' session, Yumkella will join Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of Nestlé; Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute; Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance public-private global health partnership; and others; in leading a discussion on how innovative partnerships can accelerate progress on sustainable growth and development.
The Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders is a private lunch during which Yumkella, together with other select heads of international and regional organizations, Heads of State and Government and key ministers and a few specially invited chief executives and academics, will attempt to define and prioritize the ways to steer a global transformation towards resilient dynamism.
In the afternoon, the UNIDO Director General will be a special guest at the 'Transforming Investment Flows: Green Growth Action Alliance' session. Together with other global leaders, including CEOs, heads of state, and heads of international and civil society organizations, he will debate how to drive up green investment flows to address the climate change challenge. Other guest speakers at this session include Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner for Climate Action; Naoko Ishii, CEO of the Global Environment Facility; Trevor Manuel, South Africa's Minister of the National Planning Commission; and Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme.
After attending the World Economic Forum, Director General Yumkella will travel to Addis Ababa to deliver a key speech to African Heads of State during the African Union summit.
For the last two years, Yumkella has served as a member of the WEF Global Agenda Council on Climate Change; and is currently a member of the WEF Global Agenda Council on Africa.
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For further information please contact:
Mikhail
Evstafyev
UNIDO Advocacy and Communications Coordinator
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-5021
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-7329
Email: M.Evstafyev[at]unido.org
