The post of Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, which sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change, became vacant following the untimely death of Joke Waller-Hunter, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

The five selected for interview are: Ambassador John W. Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda; Yvo de Boer, Minister from the Netherlands; Luis Gomez Echeverri of Colombia, of the UN Development Programme (UNDP); Miklós Persányi, Minister from Hungary; and Simon Upton Minister of New Zealand.

Mr. Dujarric said that the Secretary-General might also consider candidates from the short-list drawn up in connection with the search for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, a post that has now been filled with Achim Steiner of Germany.

He added that the Secretary-General would select the successful candidate and consult the Bureau of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, after which the appointment of the new Executive Secretary would be made.

Under the UNFCCC, which most countries have joined, Governments are, among other measures, responsible for gathering and sharing information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices, as well as launching national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force on 16 February 2005, is an addition to the UNFCCC that has more powerful – and legally binding – measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, 35 industrialized countries and the European Community are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below levels specified for each of them. Overall, this should amount to reductions of at least 5 percent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012 and a 20-member Compliance Committee will deal with cases of non-compliance with these and other obligations of the Protocol.