Grenada minister Simon Stiell appointed as new UN climate chief

Washington — Grenada’s former climate resilience minister Simon Stiell will become the new UN climate chief, secretary-general António Guterres announced on Monday.

Stiell will take over as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change with under three months before the latest round of climate negotiations at COP27 in Egypt. He will replace Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa, and faces task of getting countries back on track to meet climate goals.

Almost all countries agreed at the COP26 gathering to focus on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with forecasts, but since then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the global consensus.

Stiell served for five years as Grenada’s minister for climate resilience & the environment until June 2022 and previously served as minister for education & human resource development.

The UN called Stiell a “true champion for formulating creative approaches for our collective global response to the climate crisis” in a statement.

Stiell has been a prominent figure at UN climate negotiations, often calling for the world’s largest polluters to set more ambitious climate goals and to deliver finance promised to vulnerable countries, including small island nations.

That funding is key to preparing for future climate impacts including extreme temperatures, rising sea levels, more frequent storms and drought.

Stiell said last year that the G20 group of the world’s most powerful countries “generate 80% of global emissions and constitute 85% of global GDP. They have the wealth and technology to act.”

Reuters