The Deputy Executive Secretary supports the Executive Secretary in managing the UNFCCC secretariat and its staff, and advises on a range of issues related to the development and strengthening of the organization as an institution, including strategic operations planning; programme budget planning, monitoring and evaluation; strategic oversight of resource mobilization efforts; staff well-being and long-term HR resource planning; oversight of institutional governance arrangements; and guidance to support to intergovernmental affairs in the context of overall secretariat operations.
Programmes Coordination will provide strategic direction and oversight in relation to the work of the Programmes department, comprised of the four Programmes divisions (Adaptation, Means of Implementation, Mitigation, Transparency). It will ensure strategic, substantive and administrative coherence and synergy in the delivery of their work programmes, including in relation to the established intergovernmental processes and constituted bodies. As a result, Parties will receive coherent support for implementing mitigation and adaptation action enabled by the provision and mobilization of means of implementation while ensuring transparency of action and support.
Operations Coordination will ensure the strategic focus, effective coordination and operational improvement of the Operations department by collaborating with Programmes Coordination and Executive in taking and reviewing decisions on the strategic direction and priorities of the secretariat and the corresponding allocation of resources.
It will ensure that all divisions of the department contribute to the secretariat’s aspiration to remain a strategically agile and effective organization, fostering the organization-wide culture and values of innovation, agility and flexibility for the achievement of its goals and mandates, and taking a coherent secretariat-wide approach to resource mobilization and partnerships through coordination, policy support, processes, capacity-building and development of the required intelligence, tools, resources and services.
Legal Affairs Division
Christine Adam, Director and Principal Legal Adviser, Legal Affairs Division
The Legal Affairs division provides legal and procedural services to support the sound delivery of all mandated activities under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, including the Katowice outcomes of the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP), and to ensure that the governing and subsidiary bodies function and operate in accordance with legal, procedural and institutional requirements, and that presiding officers, Bureau members, regional and negotiating groups, Parties, chairs, facilitators and secretariat teams receive timely and effective legal, procedural and, where relevant, substantive support and services in respect of all agenda items under negotiation. It also protects the legal interests of the secretariat and the secretariat process (minimizing the legal liabilities of the secretariat) and ensures that the operations, management and administration of the secretariat are conducted in accordance with decisions of the COP, the CMP and the CMA and applicable UN regulations, rules and policy.
Administrative Services, Human Resources and Information and Communication Technology Division
Kate McBride,
Director, AS/HR/ICT
The Administrative Services, Human Resources, and Information and Communication Technology division delivers a wide range of operational services that support the intergovernmental process, related institutions, bodies and mechanisms, including conferences and meetings, the regulatory systems under the Kyoto Protocol, and the daily operations of the secretariat and its divisions.
Conference Affairs Division
Wasim Mir, Director, Conference Affairs
The Conference Affairs division provides optimal conference services for the sessions of the governing and subsidiary bodies, as well as for a wide range of workshops and other events, is a cornerstone of the secretariat support system. The division creates an optimal environment for UNFCCC events and facilitate the preparation of Parties and other stakeholders for such events. The division will plan and coordinate conferences and provide high-quality conference services, including managing the Participation Fund, documents, meetings and the registration and accreditation of participants.
Adaptation Division
Youssef Nassef,
Director, Adaptation
The Adaptation division supports Parties in enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change. It facilitates the provision of holistic technical guidance and advice to Parties on all aspects of adaptation and resilience, especially on assessing climate change risks and sharing knowledge; planning responses to impacts and vulnerability; and enhancing implementation and reviewing progress.
The division supports a number of processes, including the NAP process, the Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the global goal on adaptation and four constituted bodies.
Means of Implementation Division
Daniele Violetti,
Director- ad interim, Means of Implementation
The Means of Implementation division provides critical assistance to Parties for enhancing access to and mobilizing and scaling up support for the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement by supporting the climate finance architecture, international cooperation on climate technology development and transfer, and the implementation of capacity-building arrangements and processes. The division supports the work of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Technology Executive Committee and facilitates knowledge sharing on capacity-building needs and actions through the Paris Committee on Capacity Building.
Mitigation Division
James Grabert,
Director, Mitigation
The Mitigation division supports Parties to facilitate, catalyze and cooperate in the implementation of ambitious climate action in line with global efforts to limit temperature increase to well below 2 °C and pursue efforts to limit this increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Parties are supported in developing, communicating and effectively implementing ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in a manner that facilitates clarity, transparency, understanding and accounting, including through the use of collaborative approaches, mechanisms, framework engagements and economic instruments that broaden mitigation action and drive sustainable development.
Transparency Division
Donald Cooper,
Director, Transparency
The Transparency division supports the intergovernmental process related to Monitoring, Reporting and Verification under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, and the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement, including by providing technical assistance to developing country Parties and training to experts engaged in the reporting, review and analysis processes.
The division supports work on relevant methodological issues, including in relation to GHG inventories, REDD-plus, agriculture and Koronivia joint work on agriculture, Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), IPCC guidelines and common metrics. The division also supports and facilitates the transparency-related work of the Consultative Group of Experts and maintain a transparency data hub, which includes data and information management and analysis.
Communications and Engagement Division
Ina Parvanova, Director, Communications and Engagement
The Communications and Engagement division serves multiple cross-cutting objectives like communicating authoritative, relevant and timely information to Parties, non-Party stakeholders and the public regarding the secretariat’s process and action on climate change, with emphasis on proactively building support among all stakeholders to facilitate climate action and increase ambition. It also ensures that the communications work and engagement activities of the secretariat are driven by the outcomes of all processes and bodies.
Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress Division
Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga,
Director, Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress
The Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress division supports the work of the governing and subsidiary bodies of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement and facilitate progress in the climate process. The division ensures the coherence, consistency and timeliness of the work of the bodies and enable and support overarching processes, such as the periodic review of the adequacy of the long-term global goal under the Convention and the global stocktake under the Paris Agreement.
