31 August 2016 03:08 pm
“In my view you should always try to talk with political leaders as well as guerrilla leaders or terrorist leaders who do not seem to be amendable to compromise – let’s try talking,” he said.
Mr. Solheim highlighted how his past experience would help inform him in his new role as the Executive Director of the UNEP.
He was elected to the UNEP position for a four-year term by the General Assembly on 13 May this year, succeeding Achim Steiner of Germany, who led the agency for the past 10 years, UN News Centre said.
Mr. Solheim laid out key issues facing the international community on environmental issues, including pollution as well as the linkages among the environment, wars and conflicts, and migration.
“The World Health Organisation has estimated that seven million people on the planet are dying from pollution – that is more or less the same number of people dying from cancer,” he told reporters in Geneva.