The 55-year-old de Boer has taken on the aura of a rock star within the climate-change movement since ascending to the top role at the UNFCCC in September 2006. But in his resignation note he acknowledges for all its bombast and publicity, Copenhagen was a failure.
He intends to step down on 1 July -- four months before the next climate summit slated for Cancun, Mexico -- and take up a new position with consultancy KPMF International.
