Paris (AFP)

He was not a favorite, he worries environmental NGOs, but the Australian Mathias Cormann will become the new secretary general of the OECD, which intends to influence an Asia-Pacific region dominated by China.

The former Australian finance minister, 50, was elected on Friday "by a narrow majority" by the ambassadors of the 37 member states of the OECD, defeating the Swedish Cécilia Malmström, former European trade commissioner, according to close sources interviewed by AFP.

"It is a huge disappointment (...). It is an understatement to say that we do not have confidence in its ability to lead the OECD so that it faces the climate crisis", reacted the NGO Greenpeace on Twitter.

The vote must be formally validated on Tuesday by the Council, the governing body of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The new secretary general, who will succeed Mexican Angel Gurria, who has served three five-year terms, will take office on June 1.

The fight against climate change, in particular by means of taxation, will be at the heart of his mandate at the head of this "club of the rich" - the members of the OECD weigh 60% of the world GDP - which opened in recent years in Latin America but still has only four countries in Asia and Oceania: Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Founded in 1948 to administer the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe, funded by the United States, the OECD succeeded under Angel Gurria's mandate in rolling back tax havens and banking secrecy, and is currently leading extensive negotiations to reform the taxation of multinationals.

Ten candidates were on the starting line six months ago, including two former European Commissioners and one close to former President Donald Trump, who threw in the towel after the latter's defeat.

Mathias Cormann, however, left with a serious handicap: a record considered unflattering on the environment.

Without waiting for the election, several environmental protection NGOs had expressed their "great concern" about the possible appointment of the Australian.

- "Guarantees" on the environment -

"If I were to be chosen as the next Secretary General, I would pledge to lead (...) ambitious and effective action on climate change and to help countries around the world achieve carbon neutrality by 2050" , he said in response to these criticisms.

"The OECD can help identify best practices, market-based technological and policy solutions that maximize results in reducing emissions" while being "economically responsible," added the staunch defender of the benefits of free. -exchange born in Belgium.

But the NGOs recalled that he had considered last year that the objective of carbon neutrality was "reckless and irresponsible" and that he had approved, as Minister of Finance, a gas project likely to greatly increase Australia's annual greenhouse gas emissions.

However, supported in particular by the United States, he was able to "give pledges in environmental matters", a high-ranking source in the organization told AFP.

"In any case, he has no choice, because the OECD must take a position on climate change".

Mathias Corman's choice is also explained "by the fact that the OECD needs to be projected into the Pacific area, which is the most dynamic region in the world with the most structuring geopolitical issues".

And where China weighs an overwhelming weight.

Australia's proactive policy vis-à-vis the American technological behemoths, at a time when the OECD is trying to deliver a tax reform in the digital sector, would also have weighed in favor of the election of its candidate.

Which also, from the same source, benefited from a lack of consensus, including among Europeans, around the candidacy of Cécilia Malmström.

© 2021 AFP