Adnan Amin to perform the duties of Interim Director-General of IRENA

On the 24th and 25th October, the International Renewable Energy Agency held the fourth session of its Preparatory Commission. On this occasion, 300 delegates from more than 100 countries gathered in Abu Dhabi.

The Preparatory Commission has decided that Mr. Adnan Amin will perform the functions of Interim Director-General of IRENA until the first assembly in 2011. “My priority will be to put IRENA on a firm institutional footing and to develop a compelling vision for the future of renewable energy worldwide”, says Mr. Amin.

“On behalf of Member States, I thank Mrs. Hélène Pelosse for the hard work she has put in setting up the Agency and welcome Mr. Amin”, comments Ambassador Rafael Conde de Saro, from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chair of the Preparatory Commission. Born in 1957, Mr. Amin is a Kenyan citizen. He is married with 3 children.

He was selected in August as Deputy Interim Director-General of IRENA. Adnan Amin served as the Director of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).

Prior to this role, he served as the Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Secretary-General's High Level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence. He also served for several years as the Director of the New York Office of UNEP and Special Representative of the UNEP Executive Director.

He was responsible for environment policy coordination, inter-agency coordination and collaboration with other UN agencies and for outreach to civil society and the private sector. In this capacity he played the lead role in supporting the intergovernmental process to review International Environmental Governance and in the United Nations Environment Programme's participation in the World Summit on Sustainable Development.