Posted on January, 30 2015

Starting February 1, WWF Acting Executive Director for Conservation Janos Pasztor will advise UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on climate change. Pasztor will support the Secretary-General in his efforts to achieve a universal climate agreement during the Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference (COP21) in December. He will hold the post until the end of COP21.

This appointment comes at a crucial time for global climate negotiations. During COP21, governments need to agree on a global climate treaty to avert the worst consequences of climate change.

"I am really excited about the upcoming year.  It will be difficult, but really interesting, and of course very important,” said Pasztor. “I will be assisting the Secretary-General toward a  successful climate agreement, and will also help him mobilize climate action involving the UN, national governments, the private sector and NGOs. After the 11 months, I plan to come back to my position in WWF​."

Pasztor has held a series of senior positions at the UN before joining WWF in 2012. In the period 2008-2012, he directed the UN Secretary-General's Climate Change Support Team and was Executive Secretary of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, consecutively. In 2007, Pasztor served as Director of the Environment Management Group in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). From 1993 to 2006, he held various senior positions in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Pasztor said that he considers a successful consensus one where governments agree that the global average temperature should not rise with more than two degrees Celsius.

The appointment of Pasztor is a milestone for Hungary’s role in the future of international conservation. “We hope his expertise will set international climate policy on track. We also believe he is going to contribute to positive changes in institutional nature conservation in Hungary,” said Andreas Beckmann, Director of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, of which WWF Hungary is part.