Achim Steiner, the head of the world's largest environmental network, was nominated Wednesday by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to be the next executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Steiner, whose nomination is expected to be approved soon by the UN General Assembly, will succeed his countryman Klaus Toepfer on June 15 for a four-year term, a UN spokesman told reporters.

Steiner is director-general of the World Conservation Union ( IUCN) which has over 1,000 members that include states, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 140 countries.

"He has worked both at grassroots level and at the highest levels of international policy-making to address the connections between environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic development," the spokesman said.

Prior to his assumption of the directorship of the Conservation Union in 2001, Steiner served as head of the World Commission on Dams.

Toepfer, who has decided not to seek a third four-year term, began working as UNEP chief in February 1998. Previously, Toepfer was Germany's environmental minister.

Source: Xinhua