Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has been appointed co-chairman of the newly formed Global Alliance for Desert Eco-Economy.

His appointment is a result of his contribution to the global climate change movement and his able leadership of the African Union during his presidency.

Mr. Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Portugal is the other co-chair.

The announcement was made by Mr. Wang Wenbiao, Secretary-General of the Kubuqi International Desert Forum and Chairman of the Elion Foundation at its 5th international conference held in Inner Mongolia, China, at the end of last July.

Former President Kufuor who is the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change attended the conference as special Guest of Honour.

Announcing the appointment, Mr. Wang who chairs the new alliance, praised him for his leadership qualities saying: “the appointment affirms the respect President Kufuor attracts globally and his untiring efforts to advance the cause of humanity.”

The alliance, which is apolitical, professional and nonprofit international nongovernmental organization, has the objective to work jointly with civil society through public-private partnerships and market mechanism to facilitate global control of land degradation, especially ecological system restoration in desert areas and development of green economy.

It also aims at promoting the concept of desert ecological progress globally, thus contributing to the global ecological environmental safety.

Sponsored by the Elion Resources Group, a Chinese business conglomerate, the UN Environmental Program and UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Kubuqi conference attracted 350 participants from fifty countries.

The Global Alliance will be formally announced and launched at a side meeting during the December 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, France.