Aliyev Mahir

1996 – Azerbaijan State Institute of Languages (English and French Literature). Receiving his Master’s degree in Environmental Resource Management from Western University in Baku. Completing his postgraduate studies in Environmental Diplomacy from the University of Geneva.

For over 20 years he has been serving in the United Nations, working in the field of environmental resource management and international environmental governance. 2000 – 2009 – he managed a number of large projects under the Montreal Protocol programme, Climate Change and International Waters. He has led UN missions and coordinated implementation of large environmental projects in over 30 countries of Eastern Europe, Africa, and Middle East. As Portfolio Manager with the United Nations Office for Project Services he supervised the implementation of a large portfolio of International Waters projects, such as: Lake Chad Basin, Niger River Basin, Agulhas and Somali Large Marine Ecosystem, Caspian Sea, Dnieper River Basin and others. Since 2009 he has been serving as Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the Europe Office in Geneva, Switzerland where, among other duties, he represents UNEP in interagency cooperation. He heads the UNEP-run interim Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention), as well as the Coordination Unit of the Environment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative.