Press release
13 December 2007
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Gunilla Carlsson appoints members of Government Commission for Measures against Climate Change
The Government decided on 11 October to appoint an international commission for climate-proof development. The members of the Commission were announced today.
"I am very pleased that we have succeeded in attracting such a wide group of knowledgeable and renowned people to the Commission," says Gunilla Carlsson. This ensures that recommendations will be well-founded and it gives Sweden a unique opportunity to contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.
Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson, who will lead the Commission, has today appointed the following members:
Wangari Maathai, Professor, Founder of the Green Belt Movement, Kenya
Sun Honglie, Professor, Head of the China Climate Change Expert Committee, China
Nanna Hvidt, Director of the Danish Institute for International Studies, Denmark
Angela Cropper, Deputy Executive Director for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Trinidad and Tobago
Jacques Aigrain, CEO Swiss Re, France - Switzerland
Mohamad El-Ashry, Senior Fellow UN Foundation, Egypt
Sunita Narain, Director of the Centre for Science and Environment, India
Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute, USA
Ian Johnson, Chairman of IDEAcarbon, UK
Bernard Petit, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Development, EU Commission, France
Margareta Wahlström, Assistant Secretary-General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), Sweden
Youba Sokona, Executive Secretary of the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), Mali
About the Government Commission for Measures against Climate Change
The Commission's work serves to complement the processes already under way within the context of organisations such as the UN, the OECD and the EU. The results will be presented in spring 2009 ahead of the Swedish Presidency of the EU in autumn 2009.
The Commission's task is to increase the focus on the link between climate change and development in poor countries. The Commission will present proposals on how the negative impacts of climate change can be reduced and how poor countries' development plans can be adapted to climate change. One of the main tasks will be to ensure that future development assistance takes into account climate impact and the risk of disasters in developing countries.
- - - - -
The Commission will hold its first meeting in Stockholm on 14-15 February 2008. A secretariat under the direction of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be set up at the Stockholm Environment Institute. Johan Schaar, former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, will head the secretariat. Anders Wijkman, Member of the European Parliament, is also linked to the Commission as chair of the Commission's expert group.
