Finnish President Tarja Halonen has been named by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to co-chair a panel on sustainable development, along with South African President Jacob Zuma.
The Secretary-General announced the appointment on Monday at a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.
The panel is being set up to deal with issues of sustainable development, especially from the point of view of climate change. The panel is to operate through the end of 2011, when it is to submit its final report to the Secretary-General.
Recommendations by the panel are to be used in preparations for the large environment meeting to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The meeting will be a follow-up to the UN environment summit held in Rio in 1992.
The panel includes 21 representatives from various countries and various fields. Participants include present and former heads of state and government, as well as experts from companies and civic organisations.
Members of the panel include the EU’s Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Bruntland, and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
