UN Secretary General Appoints New Leadership For ozone Convention

Nairobi, Sept 9 (Antara) - The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has made new senior appointments to head the Secretariats that support the phasing out of ozone-depleting substances. Following an international selection process, Tina Birbili was announced as the new Executive Secretary to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said in a press statement on Monday. Ban also appointed Eduardo Ganem as the Chief Officer of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol. "The Secretary-General`s appointments of Ms. Birbili and Mr. Ganem come at an exciting time for international action for the protection of the ozone layer," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP. Tina Birbili, a Greek national and former Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, recently completed her assignment as Ambassador of Greece to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Eduardo Ganem, a Mexican national, is the current Deputy Chief Officer of the Montreal Fund. Mr. Ganem has served the Multilateral Fund Secretariat in different capacities since 1991. He brings to his new position extensive, first-hand experience in policy development, project management, particularly in the phasing out of ozone-depleting substances. With 197 parties, the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol are the most widely ratified treaties in UN history, and have to date, enabled reductions of over 98 per cent of all global consumption of controlled ozone-depleting substances. Indications are that atmospheric levels of key ozone-depleting substances are falling, and it is believed that with the full implementation of the Protocol, the ozone layer should return to pre-1980 levels between 2050 and 2075. The Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol was established in 1991 to support countries in implementing efforts to phase out ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol. The Fund has to date approved activities including industrial conversions, technical assistance, training and capacity building worth over US$3 billion. Due to the widespread adoption and ratification the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol, supported by the Multilateral Fund, the efforts on ozone have been widely recognised as an example for international co-operation in addressing global environmental challenges. The Secretariats of the Vienna Convention/Montreal Protocol and the Multilateral Fund are hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).