PRESS RELEASE

Monique Barbut of France appointed new director of UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics

Nairobi/Paris, 15 January 2004 -Mrs Monique Barbut of France has been formally appointed as the new Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Division for Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE).

Prior to her appointment, Mrs Barbut, was in charge of operations with the French overseas departments and territories, as well as the Executive Director for all Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean activities, at The Agence Française de Développement Group (AfD), France's principal executing agency for project aid.

With a long and varied career in France's economic development bank, la Caisse centrale de cooperation economique, and thereafter with the AfD, Mrs Barbut brings to UNEP a wealth of experience in the field of international sustainable development finance.

After early work on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, Mrs Barbut went on to lead la Caisse centrale's project financing activities with the French overseas territories, and then to activities related to evaluation.

Throughout the 1990's, she became increasingly involved with the issue of financing sustainable development, both for the French government and on the international scene in general. As a member of the French government delegation, Mrs Barbut was a key player in the financing negotiations at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, and went on to play an active role in the creation of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). She was the first Chief Executive Officer of the French GEF.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director said Mrs Barbut will lead a vital area of the organisation's work. He said the UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics had a particularly important role to play in developing a global framework for sustainable consumption and production patterns, and developing effective public-private partnerships, both key outcomes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Married with three children, Mrs Barbut has been officer in charge of DTIE since September 2003. She succeeds Mrs Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, who retired from the organisation last April.

For more information please contact: Robert Bisset, UNEP Spokesperson for Europe on Tel: 33 1 44377613, Mobile: 33 6 22725842, E-mail: robert.bisset@unep.fr. Eric Falt, Spokesperson and Director of UNEP's Division of Communications and Public Information, on Tel: 254 2 623292, Mobile: 254 (0) 733 682656, E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, on Tel: 254 2 623084, Mobile: 254 (0) 733 632755, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org.

UNEP News Release Paris 2004/1