Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel is Chairperson, Board of Governors, Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Pakistan since 2009. Earlier, he served as Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme for nearly a decade with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary General, a position he held until his voluntary retirement in December 2007. During his decade long tenure in UNEP, Ambassador Kakakhel assisted the Executive Director in all aspects of the Programme’s activities. He headed the Programme Planning and Coordination Committee and was elected member of the Executive Board of the UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanisms for 2009-10 and again for 2011-12, representing the Non Annex parties of Asia Pacific.