12 Powerful Tweets From The UN’s New No-Nonsense Environment Boss

Posts 12 Aug 2016

If his tweets are anything to go by, the UN’s new environment chief will not take no for an answer when it comes to climate action.

The former Norwegian environment minister officially took over as UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director this week (8 August) at the organisation’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Solheim is an avid tweeter and his recent posts demonstrate the Scandinavian is not afraid to use direct language and share his opinions, praise, criticisms and calls to action with his almost 30.000 followers and counting.

So Inspiring!

A “Spirited green opening ceremony of Rio Olympics” is how Solheim described Rio 2016’s call to action last week. “Thanks – so inspiring!” he tweeted.

Clean up That Bay!

While Solheim praised Rio 2016’s environmental focus, he said Brazil should do some “heavy lifting” and clean up Rio’s Guanabara Bay after the Olympics are over.

A Hoax???

The new UNEP chief does not appear to have a lot of time for science deniers, tweeting “Republicans trust NASA can bring us safely to the moon. But its climate science is hoax???”

Big Solar is Cheap!

Tweeting a link about Australia’s solar sector, Solheim quotes from the article: “Cost just going down and down,” pointing out “big solar” costs have halved in just three years.

Billions? We Need Trillions!

Solheim tweeted that the $81 billion spent on climate action by the world’s development banks is not enough. “[We] need private sector investment to make it trillions!” he says.

Turning Point!

He is excited about the news that electric charging points may soon outnumber petrol stations. “Turning point!” he tweets.

Go Costa Rica!

Solheim praised Costa Rica – home to former UN climate chief and current candidate for UN Secretary General Christiana Figueres – as a “true environment front runner.”

A Whopping 1 Trillion Tons!

The Norwegian tweeted about shocking news from Greenland which “lost a whopping 1 trillion tons of ice just from 2011 to 2014.”

Great News: Severe Punishment!

“Great news,” Solheim tweeted, “Chinese polluters will face severe punishment. Blacklists will be drawn up.”

Scary!

Noting that we experienced the hottest June on record this year, Solheim tweeted “Scary!”

So Promising!

About US electrical car maker Tesla’s new ‘gigafactory’, Solheim tweeted: “The future is so fascinating – and promising!”

P.I.N.K.

“Great to really get started,” Solheim tweeted on Monday, indicating that he want’s to lead the world’s primary environmental organisation according to what he calls the “PINK” principle: Positive, Inspiring, Near people and Kind to all.

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