Simon Stiell, who graduated from Master of Business Administration course at the University of Westminster, was appointed as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The UNFCCC consists of 197 Parties and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The main goal of the Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius in this century and to later on limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
The objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
Mr Stiell was appointed as Executive Secretary after consultations with the Bureau of the Conference of Parties. He is taking the position of Ibrahim Thiaw, who was serving as the Acting Executive Secretary of the UFCCC.
Regarding Mr Stiell’s new position, a press release by the UN stated: “Mr Stiell, a true champion for formulating creative approaches for our collective global response to the climate crisis, brings to the position a unique skillset developed over a 33 year career, coupled with vast experience in bilateral, regional and multilateral affairs.”
Mr Stiell initially studied engineering at London Metropolitan University and graduated from the Master of Business Administration course at Westminster in 1998. He worked for about 14 years in the technology sector in senior executive positions, from Silicon Valley-based start-ups to major corporations, including Nokia and GEC Plessey Telecommunications.
Later on, he joined the Government of Grenada as a senior minister, and filled this position from 2013 until June 2022. He was the Minister for Climate Resilience and the Environment for five years and has also served as Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Minister of State, and as a Parliamentary Secretary within the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry and Fisheries. He was also a member of Grenada’s Upper House of Parliament, the Senate, where he served as Leader of Government Business.
Learn more about Business and Management courses at the University of Westminster.
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