Director General of UNIDO

Vision for UNIDO

Gerd Müller

According to Gerd Müller, UNIDO has a unique mandate: it is the only international organization to have industrial development and the pursuit of SDG 9 at its core. The Director General is passionate about promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID), accelerating achievement of SDG 9, fostering interlinkages with other SDGs and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and forging a new global alliance for inclusive and sustainable industrial development.

He is honoured to establish UNIDO as a leading UN agency in promoting a green transition and recovery and fostering resilient, inclusive and sustainable industrial development that ensures the survival of humankind and respects planetary boundaries. He also stands for a renewed partnership between developing countries, emerging economies and industrialized countries, especially through a stronger commitment by industrialized countries.

Biography

Gerd Müller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as of 10 December 2021, has had various leadership positions from an early stage in his career. Following his tenure as a Member of the European Parliament, he was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in 2005. In 2013, he was appointed Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development in the German Government.

Gerd Müller has many years of experience in the fields of multilateral cooperation, sustainability, sustainable management and innovative agriculture. Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on climate action, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Beijing Declaration on Gender Equality are key focus areas of his work.

Political and professional career

Dec 2021 Director General of UNIDO
Dec 2013 Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
Jan 2013 Governor World Bank
Commissioner of the Global Commission of Adaptation
Jan 2005 Vice Minister to the Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection; in charge of international relations, development projects and world food affairs
Oct 1994 Member of the German Bundestag (Federal Parliament)