The REN21 Steering Committee announced, on 23 May, the appointment of Christine Lins of Austria as the new executive secretary of REN21, effective 1 July. She will succeed Virginia Sonntag-O’Brien. Lins comes to REN21 from the Brussels-based European Renewable Energy Council, the united voice of Europe’s renewable energy industry, where she has served as secretary-general for ten years. Prior to moving to Brussels, she worked in a regional energy agency in her home country, Austria. Sonntag-O’Brien, who has served as REN21’s executive secretary for the past three years, will be helping to build the new UNEP Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. REN21 is the Renewable Energy Global Policy Network for the 21st Century, a forum for international leadership from governments, business and industry, and civil society, with the goal to accelerate the global transition to renewable energy. The REN21 Secretariat is located in Paris. www.ren21.net