Mr Achim Steiner, Germany
06 July 2012 | News story
Achim Steiner, a German and Brazilian national, has made outstanding contributions to the conservation of nature and natural resources as Secretary General of the World Commission on Dams from 1998 to 2001, as Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature from 2001 to 2006 and from 2006 onwards as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
He is recognized in particular for his role as Director General of IUCN, managing an organization of some 1,000 staff spread over 42 countries and overseeing the implementation of IUCN’s quadrennial global programme of conservation activities.
Significant achievements during his tenure included the organization of the IUCN Environment Centre at the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 where thousands participated in the workshops, seminars and dialogues organized by IUCN’s Members and partners and where he succeeded in bringing IUCN’s expertise and profile to bear in the formal negotiations; the convening of IUCN’s Vth World Parks Congress in 2003, the largest ever held and the most diverse in terms of issues addressed; and the organization of IUCN World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand in 2004, an event which attracted some 5,000 participants from IUCN’s global constituency and helped set the conservation agenda going forward.
Thanks to Achim Steiner’s efforts, IUCN was able to reclaim its leadership in the practice, science and policy of conservation and sustainable development and its vital role as a platform for exchange and collaboration to tackle today’s conservation challenges.
Achim is the recipient of several prestigious environmental awards.
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Mr Achim Steiner, Germany
Photo: UNEP
