February 2, 2004

New Chief Officer at the Secretariat of the Multilateral Fund

Ms Maria Nolan takes over as Chief Officer of the Secretariat of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.  She brings with her a wealth of experience on the protection of the ozone layer both at the national level, in her capacity as the Head of Stratospheric Ozone Policy in the United Kingdom, and internationally as policy adviser to UNEP's Methyl Bromide Technical Options Committee, as President of the Montreal Protocol's Implementation Committee and as a co-chair of the Protocol's Open Ended Working Group.  She headed the United Kingdom delegation to Meetings of the Montreal Protocol from 1999 to 2003. Ms. Nolan was instrumental in developing the UK policy on the reduction of emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which is now used as a basis for EU-wide measures.   Ms. Nolan has first hand experience of the Multilateral Fund, having served as a representative of the United Kingdom on the Fund’s Executive Committee.

            Ms. Maria Nolan is a British national educated at the University of London. She succeeds Dr Omar El-Arini of Egypt, who retired after leading the Fund Secretariat since it began operation in 1991.