Following an extensive career focusing on environment and development in government and international organizations, Erik Solheim was Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme between May 2016 and November 2018.
00:33- About Erik Solheim and his journey.
- Erik Solheim is a Norwegian diplomat and former politician.
- He served in the Norwegian government from 2005 to 2012 as Minister of International Development and Minister of the Environment, and as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme from 2016 to 2018.
- Mr Solheim is a member of the Green Party.
- Solheim was formerly a politician for the Socialist Left Party (SV); he led its youth branch, the Socialist Youth, from 1977 to 1981, was party secretary from 1981 to 1985, and served as a member of the Parliament of Norway from 1989 to 2001.
- Born in Oslo, Solheim attended high school at Oslo Cathedral School, after serving conscription for the Norwegian Air Force in Bodø (1974–75), and graduated from the University of Oslo in 1980 after studying history, sociology & political science.