CEOs chosen to advise the UN secretary-general on energy policy were chosen based on individual merit, and not because of their companies' accomplishments, the director of the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development (DESA) told reporters on Thursday.

"It was made clear that everyone had been selected in their personal capacities and not as representatives of their organization," said Tariq Banuri, who is also in the advisory group but was not involved in the selection process. "It is not the institution that is a member."

However, in a press statement released on Thursday, CEO of Swedish utility Vattenfall Lars G. Josefsson connected his participation in the United Nations advisory group to his company' s commitment to fighting climate change.

"I am happy to accept the invitation to participate in this high-level advisory group, which I hope will play an important role in advancing decisions and measures crucial to curbing climate change," said Josefsson, whose company is Europe's fifth largest generator of electricity and the largest generator of heat.

"The invitation is also a recognition of the significance of Vattenfall's efforts to advance the energy and climate issue."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon established the advisory group, which is comprised of members from the private and public sectors, to assist him in the global debate on energy policy.

Other advisors in the group include Shi Zhengrong, CEO of Suntech Power Holdings in China, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is the CEO of the Masdar Initiative in the United Arab Emirates, Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, CEO of the sugar and alcohol company Cosan in Brazil, Former President of Costa Rica Jose Figueres, and Heldge Lund, CEO of the oil and gas company Statoil Hydro in Norway.

"The (advisors) have been selected as individuals with knowledge about these issues .. so we can understand much better what the prospects of different technologies are," said Banuri. " You as an individual have been asked by the secretary-general to advise him."

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2009)