Simon Stiell

Read more about the Executive Secretary

Daniele Violetti
Senior Director

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.

Youssef Nassef
Director

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.

George Peradze
Director

The Administratio and Operations division will deliver 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.

Wasim Mir
Director

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.

Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga
Director

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.

Sophie De Coninck
Director

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.

Christine Adam
Director and Principal Legal Adviser

The Legal Affairs division is composed of two subdivisions: the Intergovernmental and Programme Support subdivision and the Institutional and General Legal Services subdivision.
 
The Legal Affairs division supports the climate change process by providing independent, high-quality, authoritative, and sound procedural and substantive legal, advice and services to support the intergovernmental negotiation process, the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, and the administration and operations of the secretariat, with a view to maintaining trust in the fairness, inclusivity, and transparency of the climate change regime. The support, advice, and services provided by the division aim to:
 

• Ensure that the governing, subsidiary, and constituted bodies function and operate in accordance with legal, procedural, and institutional requirements.
• Facilitate the sound delivery of mandates and implementation of climate action under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement.
• Enable COP Presidents and other presiding officers to exercise their functions in accordance with the established principles and procedures of the UNFCCC process.
• Establish legal capacity-building programmes on a variety of subject.
• Protect the legal interests of the secretariat and the UNFCCC process by minimizing the legal liabilities of the secretariat and ensuring that the operations, management, and administration of the secretariat are conducted in accordance with decisions of the governing bodies and UNFCCC regulations, rules and policies.
• Strengthen the secretariat's institutional and regulatory framework through the development and promulgation of administrative instructions that meet its operational and business needs, while also supporting their implementation.

Xuehong WANG
Director

The Transparency Division supports the intergovernmental process related to, and the implementation of the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) under the Convention and Kyoto Protocol.

The division facilitates technical expert reviews of biennial transparency reports, including expert training, to ensure credible, verifiable climate data, alongside peer-learning and dialogue through the facilitative multilateral consideration of progress.

To enable universal ETF participation, it provides technical assistance to developing country Parties and supports the Consultative Group of Experts.

It develops and services user-centric tools and data services, including the ETF reporting and review tools and Climate Data Hub, and addresses methodological matters concerning GHG inventories, IPCC guidelines and common metrics.

It contributes to convening, catalyzing, and incentivizing stakeholder engagement through the #Together4Transparency initiative, as well as the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) portal and Net-Zero Recognition Framework, which showcase non-Party and Cooperative Climate Initiative climate action commitments and progress.

The division also supports the work on forestry and agriculture, including the implementation of the REDD+ process and the Sharm el-Sheikh joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security.