UN climate boss to quit
The UN’s top climate change official Yvo De Boer today announced he was resigning after nearly four years, a period when governments struggled without success to agree on a new global warming deal.
But Mr De Boer said his decision was not linked to the result of December’s Copenhagen conference which ended without a legally binding agreement on global emissions.
He said he began looking for another job before then.
His resignation takes effect from July 1, five months before 193 nations are due to reconvene in Mexico for another attempt to reach a worldwide agreement on controlling greenhouse gases.
Mr De Boer said he believed talks on a new treaty were on track, despite the frustration of failing to reach a deal at the Copenhagen climate summit in December.
Mr De Boer said he was announcing his departure now to allow UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to find a successor well before the Mexico conference.
The former Dutch civil servant and climate negotiator was widely credited with raising the profile of climate issues through his frequent press encounters and his backstage lobbying of world leaders.
But his constant travel and frenetic diplomacy failed to bridge the suspicions and distrust between developing and industrial countries that barred the way to a final agreement at the Copenhagen summit.
The partial agreement reached in Copenhagen, brokered by President Barack Obama, “was very significant,” he said But he acknowledged frustration that the deal fell short of consensus and was merely “noted” rather than formally adopted by all countries.
“We were about an inch away from a formal agreement. It was basically in our grasp, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “So that was a pity.”
But Mr de Boer appeared to be more disheartened by the snail-paced negotiations than he was ready to admit.
“I saw him at the airport after Copenhagen,” said Jake Schmidt, a climate expert for the US-based Natural Resources Defence Council. “He was tired, worn out.” The summit “clearly took a toll on him.”
Mr De Boer said he will be a consultant on climate and sustainability issues for KPMG, a global accounting firm, and will be associated with several universities.
