Børge Brende (born 25 September 1965) is a Norwegian politician and diplomat, and has been the president and CEO of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously was

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

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

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 The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

(UNEP), alongside Achim Steiner of Germany and Rajendra K. Pachauri of India; the post eventually went to Steiner. In January 2008, Brende joined the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, particularly in charge of relations with governments and civil society. In 2009, Brende joined the Norwegian

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

as Secretary General. 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. From 2009 to 2011 Brende was Secretary General of Red Cross Norway. 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 Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renew ...

). 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. As Foreign Minister of Norway, Brende normalised the relationship with China. 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.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013–2017)

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 The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

, which garnered $5.4 billion in pledges. 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 Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

in the increasingly ice-free

international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...

of the Arctic. In January 2016, Brende was appointed by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Ban Ki-moon to the High-level Advisory Group for ''Every Woman Every Child.''

World Economic Forum

On 15 September 2017, it was announced that Brende will be the president and CEO of the World Economic Forum from mid-October 2017. As President and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Brende promoted the idea of a Group of Three between

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2023.

Other activities

International organizations

* Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2017) * Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA),

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013–2017) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013–2017)

Corporate boards

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

Non-profit organizations

* Bilderberg Group, Member of the Steering Committee * Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Member of the Strategic Committee * P4G – Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2019) *

(WEF), Member of the Europe Policy Group (since 2017) * Norwegian Defence University College, Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Board (2010–2011)

Recognition

* 2004 – Order of the Phoenix * 2005 – Order of St. Olav * 2005 –

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

* 2018 – Order of San Carlos

Personal life

Brende is married and has two sons.

References

External links

Brende's CV at the Ministry of Trade and Industry
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brende, Boerge 1965 births Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Norway Living people Ministers of climate and the environment of Norway Ministers of trade and shipping of Norway Members of the Storting 2001–2005 Members of the Storting 1997–2001 Members of the Storting 2005–2009