SG/A/783
21 January 2002

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
OF UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION
ON CLIMATE CHANGE

NEW YORK, 18 January (UN Headquarters) -- The Secretary-General has appointed Joke Waller-Hunter of the Netherlands as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to succeed Michael Zammit Cutajar, who retires on 31 January. The appointment has been made after consultations with the Conference of Parties through its Bureau.

Ms. Waller-Hunter is currently the Environment Director of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). She has previously worked as the Director of the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, which provides the substantive secretariat support to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. She has also worked with the Dutch Government in the earlier years of her career.

* *** *