Australia’s special advisor on green growth was appointed Tuesday as the new director-general of the Global Green Growth Institute, the Seoul-based organization said.

Howard Bamsey will replace Richard Samans, who will return to the World Economic Forum as managing director for global cooperation after spearheading the GGGI’s transformation into an international body last year.

Bamsey, who took office immediately, is also an adjunct professor at Australian National University’s Climate Change Institute and teaches climate change and energy security at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Center.

After serving three years as Canberra’s special envoy for climate change until 2011, he has played an active role in the GGGI Council’s transitional subcommittee in charge of the institute’s global status upgrade as a special advisor on green growth at the Australian Agency for International Development.

His term at the GGGI will be decided at a directors’ meeting and general assembly later this year.

The institution was set up in 2010 by the Korean government to bridge rich and poor countries to fund and share technological knowhow for environmentally friendly development.

“GGGI now needs to consolidate and focus on successfully implementing its various programs and activities in a streamlined fashion, and we are confident that Howard Bamsey can contribute positively to this process,” Lars Løkke Rasmussen, chairman of the council, said in a statement.

By Shin Hyon-hee  (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)