The United Nations General Assembly yesterday unanimously elected Achim Steiner as the new Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He will hold this position for the next 4 years.

Steiner, who is currently the director-general of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), will replace Klaus Toepfer, who has served the United Nations for more than eight years, and has been the fifth Executive Director in UNEP’s history.