UN climate change chief resigns in frustration

The UN's top official on climate change announced his resignation today.

Yvo de Boer's resignation comes after nations failed to agree a tough deal to combat global warming at the Copenhagen summit.

Mr de Boer will step down in July from his post as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He said he was announcing it now to allow UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to find a successor before the next climate change summit, at Cancún in Mexico in November.

He spoke of his frustration at Copenhagen, where a deal was merely "noted", rather than formally adopted by all countries. "We were about an inch away from a formal agreement. It was in our grasp, but it didn't happen, so that was a pity," he said.

But the outcome was unrelated to his decision to quit, Mr de Boer added. He will be a consultant on climate and sustainability for accountancy firm KPMG.