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Børge Brende

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Børge Brende
Brende in 2023
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
16 October 2013 – 20 October 2017
Prime MinisterErna Solberg
Preceded byEspen Barth Eide
Succeeded byIne Eriksen Søreide
Minister of Trade and Industry
In office
18 June 2004 – 17 October 2005
Prime MinisterKjell Magne Bondevik
Preceded byAnsgar Gabrielsen
Succeeded byOdd Eriksen
Minister of the Environment
In office
19 October 2001 – 18 June 2004
Prime MinisterKjell Magne Bondevik
Preceded bySiri Bjerke
Succeeded byKnut Arild Hareide
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
In office
1 October 1997 – 30 September 2009
DeputyLinda Hofstad Helleland (2001–2005)
ConstituencySør-Trøndelag
First Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
10 April 1994 – 29 March 1998
LeaderJan Petersen
Preceded byJohn G. Bernander
Succeeded byInge Lønning
Leader of the Young Conservatives
In office
26 June 1988 – 24 June 1990
DeputyElisabeth Aspaker
Jan Tore Sanner
Preceded byTrond Helleland
Succeeded byJan Tore Sanner
Personal details
Born (1965-09-25) 25 September 1965 (age 58)
Odda, Hordaland, Norway
Political partyConservative
SpouseTorild M. Brende
Children2
Alma materNorwegian University of Science and Technology

Børge Brende (born 25 September 1965) is a Norwegian politician and diplomat, and has been the president of the World Economic Forum since 2017.[1] A member of the Conservative Party, he previously was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2017, Minister of the Environment from 2001 to 2004 and Minister of Trade and Industry from 2004 to 2005. He was also a member of the Norwegian Parliament from Sør-Trøndelag between 1997 and 2009.

Career

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Brende was chairman of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development from 2003 to 2004 as Norway's Environment Minister. In 2006, he was one of the candidates shortlisted to succeed Klaus Töpfer as executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), alongside Achim Steiner of Germany and Rajendra K. Pachauri of India;[2] the post eventually went to Steiner.

In January 2008, Brende joined the World Economic Forum as managing director, particularly in charge of relations with governments and civil society. In 2009, Brende joined the Norwegian Red Cross as Secretary General.[3] He re-joined the World Economic Forum in 2011 as managing director with responsibility for policy initiatives and engagement of the Forum's non-business constituents.[4] From 2009 to 2011 Brende was Secretary General of Red Cross Norway.[5]

Brende in 2008

He has been the chairman of Mesta, Norway's largest contracting group in the area of road and highway maintenance. He was also a member of the board of Statoil (Equinor). Brende started in 2005 as international vice-chairman of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, an advisory board to the State Council. Brende was the deputy leader of the Conservative Party from 1994 to 1998.[6]

As Foreign Minister of Norway, Brende normalised the relationship with China.[7] Together with the Foreign Minister of Cuba he was the "guarantor" of the Colombian peace process. As the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Brende improved the framework conditions for trade and industry, and for innovation and development. By the end of his term in office, funding for innovation had increased by 30%. As a minister of the Environment he was in charge of an increase of the national park area of Norway of more than 50%. As Secretary General of Norwegian Red Cross Brende was leading some of the largest relief operations in the society's history; in Haiti and Pakistan.[8]

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013–2017)

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Brende with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
Brende with Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz

In October 2014, Brende – in his capacity as Chairman of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) – co-hosted the Cairo Conference on Palestine, an international donor conference on reconstructing the Gaza Strip, which garnered $5.4 billion in pledges.[9]

In 2015, Brende negotiated an interim agreement between Norway and the other coastal states in the Arctic – Canada, Denmark (on behalf of its territory of Greenland), Russia and the United States – on prohibiting commercial fishing in the increasingly ice-free international waters of the Arctic.[10]

In January 2016, Brende was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the High-level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child.[11]

World Economic Forum

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Brende meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev

On 15 September 2017, it was announced that Brende will be the president of the World Economic Forum from mid-October 2017.[12]

In May 2024, the WEF's Chairman Klaus Schwab announced that he would step back from the day-to-day activities of the World Economic Forum and emphasised that the existing leadership team, led by Børge Brende, would assume his responsibilities in the coming months.[13] Briefly thereafter, on June 29, 2024, The Wall Street Journal published an article, authored by staff reporters Shalini Ramachandran and Khadeeja Safdar, stating that Schwab is accused by former WEF employees of having engaged in two instances of sexual harassment. Furthermore, a former employee alleges that she was "pushed out" from her role as leader of an initiative for startups, following a brief trial period, after telling Schwab she was pregnant. Schwab grew upset that she wouldn’t be able to continue working at the same pace, people familiar with the incident said, and told her she wasn’t suited for her new leadership role. A fourth allegation was that Schwab ordered the firing of all individuals over 50 years of age at the WEF, which then HR-chief Paolo Gallo refused to do. After this, Schwab allegedly fired Gallo. The article then went on to discuss alleged misconduct by other high-ranking WEF officials, which was not directly related to Schwab. The WSJ article quoted the WEF's response to the specific allegations against Schwab, which the authors had gathered before publishing the article, as: "Schwab has never made sexual advances toward an employee and the women's' allegations were vague and false" and that “Mr. Schwab does not and has never engaged in the vulgar behaviors you describe”. [14] Three days later, the WSJ article was reported on, separately and respectively, in Swiss daily newspapers Tages-Anzeiger and Neue Zürcher Zeitung, where WEF further commented that "it is deeply disappointing that the WSJ made provably false allegations" and that there existed a zero-tolerance policy for this sort of misconduct. [15][16]

Other activities

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International organizations

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Corporate boards

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  • Statoil, Member of the Board (2012–2013)
  • Mesta, Chairman of the Board (2009–2011)

Non-profit organizations

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Recognition

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Personal life

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Brende is married and has two sons.[24][25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Norway’s Børge Brende joins World Economic Forum, 15 September 2017, The New York Times.
  2. ^ SHORTLIST OF CANDIDATES FOR POST OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP) United Nations, press release of March 3, 2006.
  3. ^ "Børge Brende blir Røde Kors-sjef". Aftenposten.no. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Norwegian Red Cross Chief to Join World Economic Forum". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Norway FM Brende named new World Economic Forum president". The Local Norway. 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  6. ^ "Børge Brende". Global Outlook. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  7. ^ "China and Norway: Unpacking the Deal The normalization of China-Norway ties is the result of years of quiet diplomacy". The Diplomat. 25 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Norway 2010 | Financial Tracking Service". fts.unocha.org. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  9. ^ Michael R. Gordon (October 12, 2014), Conference Pledges $5.4 Billion to Rebuild Gaza Strip, The New York Times.
  10. ^ Steven Lee Myers (July 16, 2015), Sea Warming Leads to Ban on Fishing in the Arctic, The New York Times.
  11. ^ UN Secretary-General Announces Members of the High-Level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child Archived 2016-08-28 at the Wayback Machine Every Woman Every Child, press release of 21 January 2016.
  12. ^ "Norway's Børge Brende joins World Economic Forum". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  13. ^ https://www.ft.com/content/b6058052-159c-475f-bd78-759e778629ca
  14. ^ Ramachandran, Shalini; Safdar, Khadeeja (June 29, 2024). "Behind Davos, Claims of a Toxic Workplace". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  15. ^ Schuler, Edgar (2 July 2024). "Berichte über Belästigung und Diskriminierung unter Klaus Schwab". Tages-Anzeiger online. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  16. ^ Weder, Janique (2024-07-03). "Schwere Vorwürfe gegen Klaus Schwab: Das WEF weist Bericht zurück". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  17. ^ Board of Governors Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
  18. ^ Board of Governors Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group.
  19. ^ Board of Governors World Bank.
  20. ^ Steering Committee Archived 2014-05-21 at archive.today Bilderberg Group.
  21. ^ Strategic Committee Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA).
  22. ^ Board of Directors P4G – Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030.
  23. ^ Europe Policy Group World Economic Forum.
  24. ^ [1] Archived October 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Lars Joakim Skarvøy (13 October 2013). "Kilder til VG: Børge Brende har sagt ja til å bli utenriksminister". VG. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of the Environment
2001–2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Trade and Industry
2004–2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
2013–2017 		Succeeded by
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
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