Underfire UN environment chief forced back to HQ
US - The UN’s environment chief, under fire over huge travel expenses and rule-breaking, has been forced leave the UN general assembly in New York early and return to his Nairobi headquarters to deal with the growing crisis.
The problems for Erik Solheim, Norwegian head of the UN Environment Programme (Unep), include the Netherlands becoming the latest nation to withhold millions of dollars in funding until the issues are resolved. The Guardian can also reveal that Solheim has now recused himself from professional dealings with his wife and a Norwegian company that employed her shortly after it signed a deal with Unep in April. Pressure is growing on Solheim after he was sharply criticised by a draft internal UN audit over his $488,513 globe-trotting travels that called them “contrary to the ethos of carbon emission reduction”. The audit also said he had “no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules” and that he claimed unjustified expenses. The UN staff union in Nairobi, where Unep is headquartered, called some of the draft audit’s findings “mind-blowing”. Solheim said he had already paid back money for instances of oversight and that he had made changes where other rules had been broken. Solheim wrote to all 125 national ambassadors on the committee that oversees Unep’s work on Tuesday to tell them he was cutting short his New York trip and putting in place measures to increase the accountability of managers and their travel. “We will address issues of trust between management, our staff, member states and/or partners,” he said in a letter seen by the Guardian. Unep is governed by the UN environment assembly, the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. Its president, Siim Kiisler, Estonia’s environment minister, told the Guardian the next steps to be taken would be decided when the internal audit was completed. “I need to ensure that member states have full trust that their resources are used for the benefit of the environment,” Kiisler said. “I will read the official report carefully, talk to Mr Solheim and after that form a standpoint.”
He said Solheim’s travels had played an important role in making Unep visible, but added: “It certainly has too look and feel right as well, and of course, follow the rules of the system.” On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Dutch government told the Guardian: “A planned payment of €8m will be held until Unep provides more clarity, and until it is clear that Unep is taking this matter seriously.” The job taken by Solheim’s wife, Gry Ulverud, is with the Norwegian company X Four-10/REV Ocean, which aims to build the world’s biggest research ship as well as a “World Ocean Headquarter” near Oslo. On 4 May, the company announced a memorandum of understanding with Unep, although Unep did not issue a press release. On 1 June, Ulverud posted on her Facebook page: “Started New Job at at X Four-10/ REV Manager for Strategy and Partnership”. The page has now been removed.
(The Guardian)