Rudd, who lost his premiership in June to his deputy Julia Gillard, said the unpaid UN job involved only three meetings before the panel makes its report at the end of next year, prior to the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro.
He said the new job would not compromise his role as an MP, presuming he will be re-elected in this month's polls from his safe Brisbane seat of Griffith.The high-level UN panel is to be co-chaired by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma.
"Rudd has a strong commitment to building on the international agreements on climate change, having been an active participant in the Bali and Copenhagen meetings of the conference of the parties on climate change," the statement said.
The high-level panel will focus on matters of global sustainability and is tasked to formulate a new vision for sustainable growth and prosperity. This includes matters such as climate change, developing a low-carbon economy and poverty eradication and development in a carbon-constrained world.
Meanwhile, opposition Liberal party leader Tony Abbott said the job would involve "significant time out of Australia" and "significant time on UN business". "It's now official. Former prime minister Rudd does have a part time job with the United Nations and what it means is that this government's ministry is in complete flux," Abbott said in Sydney.
"We've also got the prospect of part-time ministers in the Gillard cabinet should the government be re-elected," he added. It's just not good enough. Australians deserve a full-time government and they won't get that if this government is re-elected," he said.