Irony at its finest: Solheim defending Ranil and his charges

⭕ Mr. Erik Solheim was appointed to lead the UN Environment Programme in 2016, with a 4-year term.

⭕ In 2018, UN audit found that Solheim spent $488,500 on travel in 22 months, being away for 529 days during that period. (around 80% of the time).

⭕ The audit flagged 76 undocumented days in Oslo and Paris with no official purpose.

⭕ 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇩🇰 Denmark, and 🇳🇱 Netherlands froze UNEP funds after the audit findings surfaced & created a funding crisis, forcing UN chief António Guterres to act.

⭕ Solheim was forced to resign, and he stepped down on Nov 20, 2018, after pressure, repaid some travel expenses.

⭕ Ranil Wickramasinghe and Solheim go way back. Solheim helped Ranil when he was PM in 2002 to secure the controversial ceasefire agreement with LTTE. In 2022, when Ranil was President, he appointed Solheim as his International Climate Adviser (said to be a voluntary, unpaid role).

⭕ Ranil has been accused of mishandling Sri Lankan taxpayers’ money for international travel, while Solheim was forced out of UNEP for almost the same reason.

The irony of friendship; if you spend enough time together, you start borrowing each other’s habits..