Selina Williams
Dow Jones News Service
February 18, 2010

United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer, who oversaw troubled climate talks in Copenhagen last year, is to resign from his post ahead of schedule, sparking calls for a swift replacement to advance negotiations on tackling global climate change.

De Boer is to depart July 1, ahead of the scheduled end of his term in September. His resignation comes amid concerns that countries will again fail to reach a binding deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at climate talks at the end of the year in Cancun, Mexico.

However, some analysts say his move–which follows the failure of negotiators from over 190 countries to secure a binding deal on emissions cuts at December’s Copenhagen summit–could bring a new lease of life to climate talks.

“It was a difficult decision to make, but I believe the time is ripe for me to take on a new challenge, working on climate and sustainability with the private sector and academia,” said de Boer, who has led the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change as its executive secretary since September 2006.

De Boer, 55, has been credited with raising the profile of climate change negotiations and helping broker, at the 2007 Bali summit, an agreement on the roadmap towards a new treaty. But he was also criticized for the lack of organization at the Copenhagen talks, where negotiators got bogged down in procedural issues and failed to reach a binding agreement.

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“I have always maintained that while governments provide the necessary policy framework, the real solutions must come from business,” he said in a statement.

“Copenhagen did not provide us with a clear agreement in legal terms, but the political commitment and sense of direction toward a low-emissions world are overwhelming. This calls for new partnerships with the business sector and I now have the chance to help make this happen.”

De Boer said he would remain in his post until July 1 and would help negotiations move forward ahead of the Mexico summit.

“Countries responsible for 80% of energy-related CO2 emissions have submitted national plans and targets to address the climate change. This underlines their commitment to meet the challenge of climate change and work towards an agreed outcome in Cancun,” he said.

U.K. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband, who was heavily involved in pushing for a deal at Copenhagen, said de Boer had done good work, but a successor would need to be found swiftly.

“We must quickly find a suitable successor, who can oversee the negotiations and reform the UNFCCC to ensure it is up to the massive task of dealing with what are some of the most complex negotiations ever,” Miliband said.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will appoint the new executive secretary after consulting with the 11 members of the UNFCCC bureau, the body responsible for advising the President of the Conference and taking decisions on the overall management of the intergovernmental process. Its member countries currently include Denmark, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Sudan and Russia, a UN spokesman said.

Mark Kenber, policy director at the Climate Group, an international non-profit organization that promotes the move to a low-carbon economy, said de Boer’s successor would need to be a good behind-the-scenes broker with credibility with both industrialized and developing countries to prevent talks from breaking down as they did in Copenhagen.

To be effective, de Boer’s successor would also need to steer the climate debate towards the economic opportunities in tackling climate change and away from the burdens and sacrifices that need to be made, he said.

“De Boer has done a good job in difficult circumstances, but it may be a good opportunity to bring in someone new who can breathe some fresh life into negotiations–it may be just what the talks need,” Kenber said.

De Boer is taking up a post as global adviser on climate and sustainability at consultancy group KPMG as well as working with a number of universities.

Before de Boer was appointed UNFCCC executive secretary, he was involved in European Union environmental policy as deputy director general of the Dutch environment ministry.

He has also served as vice-chair of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, acted as an adviser to the government of China and the World Bank, and worked closely with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development.

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