Børge Brende

Børge Brende
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 October 2013
Prime Minister	Erna Solberg
Preceded by	Espen Barth Eide
Minister of Climate and the Environment
In office 19 October 2001 – 18 June 2004
Prime Minister	Kjell Magne Bondevik
Preceded by	Siri Bjerke
Succeeded by	Knut Arild Hareide
Minister of Trade and Industry
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 September 2005
Prime Minister	19 October 2004
Preceded by	Grete Knudsen
Succeeded by	Odd Eriksen
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
In office 15 September 1997 – 14 September 2009
Constituency	Sør-Trøndelag
Personal details
Born	25 September 1965 Odda, Hordaland, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Ine Brende
Children	2
Alma mater	Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Religion	Church of Norway

Børge Brende (born 25 September 1965) is a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party and has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs since 16 October 2013. He served as Minister of the Environment 2001–2004 and as Minister of Trade and Industry 2004–2005, and as a member of the Storting 1997–2009.

Career

Brende served as chairman of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development from 2003 to 2004. In 2005, he took up the appointment of international vice chairman of the China Council for the International Cooperation on Environment and Development (advisory board to the State Council).

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2013–present

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

Personal life

Brende is married and has two sons.^[6][7]

References

1. "Børge Brende blir Røde Kors-sjef". Aftenposten.no. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
2. "Norwegian Red Cross Chief to Join World Economic Forum". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
3. Michael R. Gordon (October 12, 2014), Conference Pledges $5.4 Billion to Rebuild Gaza Strip New York Times.
4. Steven Lee Myers (July 16, 2015), Sea Warming Leads to Ban on Fishing in the Arctic New York Times.
5. UN Secretary-General Announces Members of the High-Level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child Every Woman Every Child, press release of 21 January 2016.
6. Archived October 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
7. Lars Joakim Skarvøy. "Kilder til VG: Børge Brende har sagt ja til å bli utenriksminister". VG. Retrieved 13 January 2015.

External links

• (Norwegian) Brende's CV at the Ministry of Trade and Industry