Globe-trotting UN environment chief resigns after ‘mind-blowing’ US$500,000 travel bill
- UN audit body had questioned the need for such extensive travel
- UNEP deputy director, Joyce Msuya of Tanzania, will temporarily replace Erik Solheim
UN environment chief Erik Solheim has resigned following widespread criticism of his excessive expenses on official global travel.
The former Norwegian diplomat, politician and environment minister announced on the UN Environment Programme’s website that he would step down Thursday after receiving the final report of the audit of his official travel by the UN’s internal watchdog on Saturday.
Its findings were not disclosed.
But The Guardian reported in September that a draft internal UN audit found Solheim had spent almost US$500,000 on air travel and hotels in just 22 months, and was away from the organisation’s Nairobi base 80 per cent of the time.
A UN staff union leader called some of the revelations “mind-blowing” and a prominent climate scientist accused Solheim of “obscene CO2 hypocrisy”.
The Guardian also quoted the audit as saying this was a “reputation risk” for an organisation dedicated to fighting climate change – and it said countries unhappy with Solheim’s spending were withholding needed contributions to the UN agency, known as UNEP.