Meet the team - Europe

Head of UNEP’s Central Asia Office

Ms. Aidai Kurmanova started her assignment as the Head of UNEP’s Central Asia Office in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 2 February 2019.  Ms Kurmanova brings 21 years of developing country experience, including her recent five-year position as the First Deputy Minister of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic. Her main areas of expertise include sustainable economic development…

Regional Director and Representative, Regional Office for Europe

Arnold Kreilhuber is the Regional Director of the UN Environment Programme’s Europe Office in Geneva since 1 May 2023.  He is a national of Austria and has over 15 years of professional experience in the fields of environmental diplomacy, policy and law. He began his professional career at the regional and national levels and joined UNEP in 2005, fulfilling…

Coordinator of the Geneva Environment Network

Diana Rizzolio is the Coordinator of the Geneva Environment Network (GEN), a cooperative partnership of over 75 environment and sustainable development organizations based in the International Environment House and elsewhere in the Geneva area. The UN Environment Programme-led GEN Secretariat actively promotes increased cooperation and networking between its…

Programme Management Officer

Ersin has 23 years of experience in development planning, strategic management planning, project cycle management, project evaluation, capital budgeting and international negotiations.  Ersin has been with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 2011. As a Task Manager, he is responsible for developing projects together with internal and external…

Finance and Budget Assistant

George is a Kenyan national with over seven years of experience in finance, budgeting, project management and administrative work from both the private sector and UN Secretariat. He worked with private sector companies and UNEP corporate services in Nairobi before supporting the organisation’s Economy Division and now the Europe Office from Geneva. He has a…

Head of UNEP Vienna Programme Office, Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention

Harald Egerer is the Head of the UN Environment Programme Vienna Programme Office and acts as the Secretary of the Carpathian Convention. He graduated in Law from the University of Vienna. After studies in international relations and environmental law and sciences, he worked as an environmental reporter for the Austrian Press Agency. In 1996, he joined UNEP with…

Associate Programme Management Officer, Vienna office

Maarten has a background in wildlife and landscape ecology. He has been active for over 15 years in both conservation biology research and applied conservation settings. He worked on landscape ecology and connectivity modelling in Belgium before joining the Ya'axché Conservation Trust in Belize, Central America. There, he helped develop a biodiversity research…

Information Assistant

Mark studied languages and politics before specialising in environmental policy at the College of Europe. He has worked as a journalist on food politics in Brussels, as an advocate for renewable energy for the Climate Parliament NGO and in microfinance. Mark now works for the UN Environment Programme's communication team for Europe. On a typical day he may…

Senior Coordination Officer

Matt Billot has over twenty years’ experience in undertaking environmental assessments as well as environmental management and policy. Matt worked for WSP Environment and Energy in the UK as an Associate Director of the Environmental Planning team. He was responsible for undertaking environmental impact assessments of development proposals across a wide range of…

Programme Management Officer - Vienna Office

Matthias manages flagship projects and initiatives related to sustainable mountain development focusing on climate change adaptation, ecosystem management, environmental governance and use of earth observation. He spearheads several initiatives in mountain regions including the Andes, Central Asia, Caucasus and East Africa.   While based in Vienna, Matthias…