Martin Frick brings more than 25 years of professional experience in the United Nations, Government, and NGOs to the table, in addition to distinguished expertise on food systems, climate, development, multilateral diplomacy, public diplomacy, and emergency response.
Frick joined the WFP Global Office Berlin as Director in 2021 to lead on WFP’s relationship with its second biggest donor, as well as Austria and Liechtenstein. From November 2022 to June 2023, he also acted as Director a.i. of the WFP Brussels Office to the European Union, expanding WFP’s strategic reach to the European Union’s Commission, Council, Parliament, and External Action Service. Prior to joining WFP, he was Deputy Special Envoy to the Food Systems Summit 2021, and supported building the summit’s strategy alongside serving as acting head of the summit’s preparation.
As Senior Director of UN Climate Change (UNFCC) from 2017 to 2021, Frick oversaw the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Secretariat’s Climate Action work. From 2015 to 2017, Frick led the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) work on Climate Change. As Ambassador to the UN and International Organizations based in Germany from 2012 to 2015, he played a critical role in building up the UN’s Sustainability Hub in Bonn, expanding upon his previous assignment as Third Generation Environmentalist’s (E3G) climate lead for climate diplomacy.
From 2007 to 2010, as Programme Director of Kofi Annan’s Global Humanitarian Forum, Frick developed the foundational concept of climate justice, coining what now is an established term in the climate debate. Under the 2007 German EU presidency, Frick served as the European Union’s lead negotiator in the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN’s highest body on Human Rights. Frick represented Germany in the General Assembly’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs from 2005 to 2007.
From 2002 to 2005, he was Cabinet Affairs Advisor to German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. His first posting abroad was in post-crisis Albania as Consul and Deputy Ambassador from 1999 to 2002.
Frick has been a German diplomat since 1996. He holds a PhD in Law from Regensburg University and a diploma in International Relations from Science Po Strasbourg. He was a senior fellow at Demos, New York as well as a guest lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
