Klaus Töpfer, the head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) plans to step down after turning down an extension to a job he has held for eight years, the UN body said on Tuesday.
Töpfer, 67, had decided against a two-year extension to the Nairobi-based job offered by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall said.
Töpfer was German environment minister from 1987-94 in a Christian Democrat government. The Christian Democrats are leading in opinion polls ahead of the September. 18 elections in Germany.
Asked whether Töpfer hoped to rejoin German politics, Nuttall said: “He has no firm plans.”
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
