The Danish head of the UN’s top environmental agency has faced down a challenge to her reappointment from Russia, which was tacitly joined by a group of developing nations agitating for more diverse UN leadership.
Inger Andersen, a 64-year-old economist with a long career at the World Bank, won a second term as executive director of the UN Environment Programme in a vote at the UN general assembly this week, despite the effort by Russia to block her from holding the position again.
The Russian putsch followed a report by UNEP that was highly critical about the devastating environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine, undertaken as part of its mandate to deliver technical assistance and environmental governance support to conflict-affected UN member states.
The move against Andersen’s appointment to another four-year term was interpreted by diplomats as part of a broader effort by Russia to wield international influence and upset the agenda of western nations that have condemned the Ukraine war.
In the secret ballot on Wednesday, Andersen won the support of a majority of countries — 136 voted in favour of her reappointment, while 31 abstained.
However, Russia gained ground on an additional resolution it put forward to allow UN member states to suggest candidates for the position, citing the importance of having a diversity of backgrounds in UN leadership.
This proposal drew the support of 13 countries, including Belarus, China, Zimbabwe and Iran, which voted with Russia in favour of its quest to permit member states to present alternative candidates, “recalling . . . the principle of equitable geographical distribution” in the UN charter.
Another 63 nations abstained on this resolution, including a swath of countries from the “global south”, including Algeria, Pakistan, Nigeria and Uruguay.
In a statement to the Financial Times, the Russian mission to the UN said that it was a “regret that the [secretary-general], despite clear position from a number of UN member states, pushed a nominee from a developed country”.
“For the first time the UN agency will be headed by a non-consensual leader. This clearly undermines the UNEP authority and may have adverse consequences for the international environmental co-operation,” it said.
As part of the UN process, secretary-general António Guterres shared his intention with member states to recommend that Andersen be reappointed at the end of her term. The resolution for the UNEP position does not require a vote, but member states can call for one.
Russia’s “messing around” had shown up the geopolitical faultlines, said one UN source. “A number of countries are attracted to the principle of equitable geographical distribution in senior UN roles, so quite a lot did not oppose the Russian amendment and took the realpolitik decision to abstain,” they noted.
If it had been successful in establishing a precedent on the resolution about representation, “Russia or others might have tabled the same decision at other senior appointments,” they added.
The US mission to the UN on Wednesday had called on countries to reject Russia’s proposal, “which seeks to undermine the secretary-general’s authority”.
It said that the UN secretary-general had consulted countries about the nomination for three months in an “open and transparent manner”, during which time “no alternative candidate had been proposed”. Andersen had “effectively led the UNEP since 2019” and had increased its “geographic diversity”.
Andersen said after the vote that she was “deeply honoured” to be taking on the role for a second time. “Environmental crisis threatens all life on the planet” and UNEP was “committed to crafting solutions”, she said.
