The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided on a short list of candidates for the post Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which will become vacant on 1 April 2006, UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe announced Wednesday.

Environmental leaders from Northern Europe, Central America and South Asia are on short list of candidates to head the UNEP as selected by the secretary-general in advance of the end of the long-running tenure of Klaus Toepfer, Okabe told reporters.

According to the spokeswoman, the candidates include Borge Brende, the former environmental minister of Norway; Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Echandi, the Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica; Shafqat Kakakhel of Pakistan, the Deputy Executive Director of UNEP; Rajendra Pachauri of India, the Director-General of the Energy and Resource Institute; and Achim Steiner of German, the Director-General of the World Conservation Union.

Annan solicited nominations in December, 2005 from member states which were considered together with other nominations, Okabe said, adding that a thorough review of the nominations was undertaken by the secretary-general and his senior advisers.

Source: Xinhua