Yvo de Boer

Yvo de Boer (born June 12, 1954) was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 4 September 2006 to 1 July 2010 the body responsible for a multi-lateral response to the climate change challenge. He had been appointed by then Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 10 August 2006. De Boer announced on February 18, 2010 that he would resign from the position effective July 1, 2010NYT Editorialto join accountancy firm KPMG as its Special Global Advisor, Climate Change and Sustainability and global ambassador. In 2011, he was appointed to chair the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Climate Change.

Alongside his work for KPMG, de Boer is currently Professional Fellow at the University of Maastricht and is a certified mediator. He is a Member of the Board of the Centre for Clean Air Policy, a Council Member of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (and co-chair of the taskforce on Climate and Energy), a member of the Green Growth Leaders, a member of the Capital Markets Climate Initiative steering group (established by UK Climate Minister Greg Barker), a Board Member of the Carbon Markets International Association, a member of the International Advisory Group of the Rotterdam Climate Initiative, as well as a Board member of the Carbon Markets International Association. Mr. de Boer received a knighthood from her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands in 2009 and the Dutch Climate Award in 2010.

De Boer has been involved in climate change policies since 1994, most notibly helping to prepare the position of the European Union in the lead-up to the negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol, assising in the design of the internal burden sharing of the European Union and has since led delegations to the UNFCCC negotiations. He has sought broad stakeholder involvement on the issue of climate change. To that end, he launched an international dialogue on the clean development mechanism and has partnered international discussions with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, aimed at increasing private sector involvement.

Prior to joining the UNFCCC, he was Director for International Affairs of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment of the Netherlands. He was in charge of international policy, both in the context of the European Union, as well as involving broader international cooperation. De Boer also served as Deputy Director-General for Environmental Protection in the same Ministry, as Head of the Climate Change Department and has worked in the fields of housing and public information. He focused mainly on the climate change negotiations both before and after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol."Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) Bureau Members Review Session: CSD-14". United Nations. May 1, 2006. http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd14/bureau.htm. De Boer has also worked for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) earlier in his career."Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York". United Nations. August 10, 2006. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sga1014.doc.htm. 

De Boer was born in Vienna, the son of a Dutch diplomat, he travelled the world extensively before entering boarding school in the United Kingdom and obtaining a technical degree in social work in the Netherlands."Opening up the carbon nation". The University of Chicago Gleacher Center, Chicago, USA. September 20, 2007. http://www.terrapinn.com/2007/carbon/SpeakerList.stm. 

De Boer has been criticised for lacking sufficient ambition for a global climate change deal and for praising the commitments of the United States despite what some see as its spoiler role in international climate negotiations."George Monbiot meets Yvo de Boer". The Guardian. December 8, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/dec/08/monbiot-yvo-de-boer-climate. Ironically, he was later criticized by several Parties as being too ambitious in pushing for such a deal. Nonetheless, De Boer led the way to the adoption of the Bali Road Map, which charts the path to a post-2012 agreement and includes the Bali Action Plan. It was under his leadership that the issue of climate change was raised to the highest political levels.

On 1 July 2010, De Boer was succeeded as Executive Director of the UNFCC by Christiana Figueres.[1]==Family== De Boer is married and has three children. ==References==

==External links== *Interview performed live into Second Life *Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC - Official UNFCCC profile *"Yvo de Boer Appointed New UNFCCC Executive Secretary" *"Secretary-General Appoints Yvo De Boer of The Netherlands As Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC"