(Bonn,
17 May 2010) - UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon has appointed Christiana Figueres
as the new Executive Secretary of the United
Nations Climate Change Secretariat based
in Bonn, Germany. The appointment was endorsed
by the Bureau of the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Monday.
In announcing her appointment
the UN Secretary-General said: "Ms.
Figueres is an international leader on strategies
to address global climate change and brings
to this position a passion for the issue,
deep knowledge of the stakeholders and valuable
hands-on experience with the public sector,
non-profit sector and private sector."
Ms. Figueres' leadership
at the helm of the UNFCCC comes at a crucial
time in global efforts to take effective
action on climate change.
"I am honored by
the designation of the Secretary General
and I am thankful to the members of the
UNFCCC Bureau for their vote of confidence.
Most of all, I am humbled by the opportunity
of the challenging task at hand," said
Ms. Figueres.
"As I take on my
new responsibilities at the helm of the
secretariat, I will have two immediate priorities:
to work with the Secretary General to strengthen
trust in the process, and to support the
Danish and Mexican COP Presidencies as well
as all other Parties in the preparation
of a successful COP16 in Cancun," she
added.
Ms Figueres has been
a member of the Costa Rican negotiating
team since 1995. She represented Latin America
and the Caribbean on the Executive Board
of the Clean Development Mechanism in 2007,
and was then elected Vice President of the
Conference of the Parties 2008-2009.
She has served as Director
of International Cooperation in the Ministry
of Planning in Costa Rica, and as Chief
of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture.
She was also the Director of Renewable Energy
in the Americas (REIA) and is founder of
the Center for Sustainable Development of
the Americas (CSDA).
Outgoing UNFCCC Executive
Secretary Yvo de Boer said: "I have
known Christiana Figueres for many years
and can testify to her deep commitment and
work to establish the robust and effective
international climate regime that is the
only way for all nations to avoid the worst
impacts of climate change. She is familiar
with the different interests a successful
outcome of negotiations must address and
can help stakeholders to find common ground.
I wish her every success."
UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon in turn commended Yvo de Boer:"I
am grateful for his dedicated services and
tireless efforts on behalf of the climate
change agenda," he said.
Ms. Figueres, 53, holds
a Masters Degree in Anthropology from the
London School of Economics, and a certificate
in Organizational Development from Georgetown
University.
About the UNFCCC
With 194 Parties, the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership
and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified
by 190 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the
Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly
industrialized countries and countries undergoing
the process of transition to a market economy,
have legally binding emission limitation
and reduction commitments. The ultimate
objective of both treaties is to stabilize
Greenhouse gas concentrations
in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent
dangerous human interference with the climate
system.
