Willem van de Voorde

Co-Chair of the Systematic Observations Financing Facility

Amb. Willem van de Voorde is the Special Envoy for Climate and Environment at Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and serves as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF). A seasoned diplomat with over three decades of service, he has held key positions across Europe and Asia, including Deputy Head of Mission in Berlin and Tokyo, Secretary to H.M. the Queen of Belgium, and Ambassador to Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and the European Union. From 2020 to 2024, he represented Belgium as Permanent Representative to the EU, presiding over the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II) during Belgium’s EU presidency in 2024. Trained in law, philosophy and political science, he brings deep expertise in European and international affairs. Passionate about sustainable development, he now focuses on advancing global cooperation on climate and environmental challenges through SOFF and the Green Climate Fund.

A middle-aged man with thinning light hair, wearing a blue suit, light blue shirt, and patterned tie, poses against a white background.