The Daily Observer has learnt that Mr Bubu Pateh Jallow, the permanent secretary at the department of state for Forestry and the Environment, has been appointed as the new Project Manager for Africa under the Adaptation and Development Project at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Paris, France.

Mr Jallow, whose appointment took effect last month, is expected to fly to Paris at the end of this month.

When contacted to comments on this development, Jallow confirmed the story, adding that he will be working under the Department of Energy and Technology at the UNEP Office in Paris. He disclosed that he will also be coordinating all the activities of the said project in Africa, and added that he will be working with some colleagues in Africa, notably those in Dakar, South Africa and Kenya.

According to him, the project is collaboration between the Danish Government, UNEP, and the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP).

"Prior to my appointment," he said, "I had been serving as a member of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), where I was The Gambia government representative (desk officer). I have served as a contributing author to most of the reports, lead author and coordinating lead author, before I rose to the rank of review editor; which position, under the IPCC, looks after all the reports after they have been finalised by the coordinating authors."

The outgoing permanent secretary also served as the vice chairman of the Science Working Group of IPCC. In view of the fact that the said international body has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Mr Jallow and other members of the Bureau, including former vice president, Al Gore of the United States of America, are also regarded as Nobel laureates.

The Forestry PS who started working with the Gambia Government on 3rd May, 1969, at the Meteorological Service, under the then department of Civil Service, expressed his resolve to further contribute immensely to the cause of climate change.

In a separate development, this paper was reliably informed of the appointment of Mrs Nancy Nyang, the deputy permanent secretary at the department of state for Forestry and the Environment, as the acting permanent secretary of the said department, in replacement of Mr Bubu Pateh Jallow. Contacted on the development, the new acting permanent secretary confirmed the story, adding that her appointment came following her predecessor's departure.