Christiana Figueres

Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen (born 7 August 1956) is a Costa Rican diplomat with experience in high level national and international policy and multilateral negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in July 2010,[1] six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen.[2] During the next six years she worked to rebuild the global climate change negotiating process,[3] leading to the 2015 Paris Agreement, widely recognized as a historical achievement.[4]

Christiana Figueres
Figueres in April 2018
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
In office
1 July 2010 – 18 July 2016
Secretary-
General		Ban Ki-moon
Preceded byYvo de Boer
Succeeded byPatricia Espinosa
Personal details
Born
Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen

(1956-08-07) 7 August 1956
San José, Costa Rica
ChildrenNaima
Yihana
Alma materSwarthmore College
London School of Economics
WebsiteOfficial website

Over the years Figueres has worked in the fields of climate change, sustainable development, energy, land use, and technical and financial cooperation. In 2016, she was Costa Rican candidate for the United Nations Secretary General[5] and was an early frontrunner, but decided to withdraw after garnishing insufficient support.[6] She has served on the board of the Spanish infrastructure and energy corporation Acciona since 2017.[7] She is a frequent public speaker,[8] widely published author[9] and a founder of the Global Optimism group.[10]

Early life

Figueres was born in San José, Costa Rica. Her father, José Figueres Ferrer, was President of Costa Rica[11] three times. Figueres’ mother, Karen Olsen Beck, served as Costa Rican Ambassador to Israel in 1982 and was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1990–1994. The couple had four children. Figueres' older brother José Figueres Olsen, was also President of Costa Rica (1994–1998).[12]

Growing up in La Lucha, Figueres attended the local Cecilia Orlich grammar school. She moved to the German Humboldt Schule in the capital and later graduated from Lincoln High School. She travelled to England for a year of A Level studies before entering Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1979.[13] As part of her studies in anthropology, she lived in Bribri, Talamanca, a remote indigenous village in the Southeastern plateau of Costa Rica for one year, designing a culturally-sensitive literacy program which was used by the Ministry of Education for several years.

She then went to the London School of Economics for a master's degree in social anthropology and graduated in 1981. Figueres' daughter Naima was born in March 1988, and daughter Yihana in December 1989.[14][15]

Early career

Figueres began her public service career as Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Bonn, West Germany, from 1982 to 1985.[16] She directed the work of all departments of the Embassy, and re-negotiated the terms of technical assistance, development finance and cooperation between the two countries.[17]

Returning to Costa Rica in 1987, Figueres was named Director of International Cooperation in the Ministry of Planning.[18] There she designed and directed the negotiation of comprehensive financial and technical cooperation programs with eight European countries, and supervised the evaluation of all national technical and financial assistance requests. A year later she was made Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture.[19] She supervised the execution of 22 national programs involving training, credit and marketing.[20] She reorganized the Minister's Bureau for greater teamwork and productivity, and designed coordination strategies among three major public institutions in the sector, eliminating duplications of services and contradictions in policy.

In 1989 Figueres moved with her husband to Washington DC, and for several years devoted herself to the upbringing of their two daughters. At the same time she pursued her interest in institutional re-structuring and effectiveness building by first attaining the Certification in Organization Development from Georgetown University in 1991, and then the Certificate in Organization and Systems Design from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland in 1993.

In 1994, Figueres re-entered professional life and became the Director of the Technical Secretariat of the Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA) initiative, today housed at the Organization of American States (OAS). She promoted policies to advance the use of renewable energy technologies in Latin America, identifying barriers to investment and possible solutions.

Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas

In 1995 Figueres founded and became the Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the participation of Latin American countries in the Climate Change Convention. Figueres developed and led the four programs of the Center: capacity building, policy reform, project preparation and carbon finance.

International negotiator

Representing the Government of Costa Rica,[21][22] Christiana Figueres was a negotiator of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change 1995–2010.[23][24] In 1997 she provided critical international strategy for achieving developing country support and approval of the Kyoto Protocol and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). From 2007 to 2009 she was Vice President of the Bureau[25] of the Climate Convention, representing Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the years she chaired various international negotiations:[26]

  • Chair of the Contact Group on Guidance to the CDM Executive Board: Nairobi, December 2006;[27] Poznan, December 2008;[28] Copenhagen, December 2009.[29]
  • Chair of the Contact Group on flexibility mechanisms for the post 2012 regime, Bonn in June 2008,[30] Accra, Ghana[31] in August 2008, and Poznan in December 2008.[28]
  • Member of the Friends of the Chair Group that negotiated the Bali Action Plan for long term cooperative action of all nations, Bali, Indonesia, December 2007.[32]

Programmatic Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

In 2002 Figueres proposed a "Sectoral CDM" under which developing countries would be encouraged to develop regional or sectoral projects that may be the result of specific sustainable development policies. In 2005 she published a study proposing "programmatic CDM" whereby emission reductions are achieved not by one single site, but rather by multiple actions executed over time as the result of a government measure or a voluntary program.[33] She conceived Programmatic CDM as a way to mobilize mitigation activities that are highly dispersed and directly benefit the user, such as distributed renewable energy and end use energy efficiency, thereby bringing the benefit of the CDM to the household and small/medium enterprise level.[34] Programmatic CDM not only expands the sustainable development impact of the CDM, it also allows the scaling up of emission reduction activities in all sectors while reducing transaction costs, and enables the transition to more ambitious developing country emission reduction programs.

In December 2005 Figueres took the idea to the COP/MOP 1 in Montreal,[35] and achieved support for it on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. She then took the lead in negotiating the concept with the various groups of industrialized countries, finally attaining a COP/MOP decision to allow "programs of activities"[36] in the CDM (paragraph 20 of Decision CMP.1).[37] Two years later, as member of the CDM Executive Board, she achieved consensus on the rules and procedures for the submission of "programs of activities" in the CDM.[38][39]

Private sector

In 2008 and 2009 Figueres collaborated with private sector companies that aligned themselves with climate friendly goals. Figueres served as Senior Adviser to C-Quest Capital, a carbon finance company focusing on programmatic CDM investments.[40] She was the Principal Climate Change Advisor to ENDESA Latinoamérica, the largest private utility in Latin America with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. She was also Vice Chair of the Rating Committee of the Carbon Rating Agency, the first entity to apply credit rating expertise to carbon assets.[41][42]

Additional activities
  • Vice President of the Bureau of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2008–09.[26]
  • Board of Directors of the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), 2008.[43][44]
  • International Member of the Academy of Sciences, Dominican Republic. 2007.[45]
  • Board of Directors and Trustee, Winrock International. 2005–present. Chair of the Governance Committee and Member of the Executive Committee, 2007–present.[46]
  • Board of Trustees of the Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Cordillera Volcánica Central (FUNDECOR), Costa Rican organization with an endowment of $15 million and which received the 2001 King Bauldwin Award. 1999–present[47]
  • Board of Directors, International Institute for Energy Conservation, 2006–2008[48]

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Following the failed COP15 climate change conference in Copenhagen,[49][50] the UN Secretary General appointed Christiana Figueres as new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, starting her first term in July 2010.[1]

During her tenure as Executive Secretary, she led the UN Climate Change Secretariat's delivery of six consecutive yearly global negotiation sessions, culminating in the historical Paris Agreement in December 2015.[51][52] Her engagement and close collaboration with yearly rotating presidencies (Mexico,[53] South Africa,[54] Qatar,[55] Poland,[56] Peru[57] and France[58]) provided the necessary framework and continuity that allowed every annual negotiation to build incrementally solid ground of common purpose.

Under the presidency of Patricia Espinosa (Mexico) COP16[59] in 2010 marked a radical departure from the previous conference in Copenhagen, delivering a comprehensive package infrastructure to assist developing nations including the Green Climate Fund, the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism,[60] and the Cancun Adaptation Framework.[61][62]

At COP17 held in Durban in December 2011,[63] governments committed for the first time to collectively developing a new universal climate change agreement by 2015 for the period beyond 2020.[64] The work toward that global legal framework was initiated at COP18 Doha in November 2012,[65] at the same time as the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol was adopted under the Doha Amendment.[66] At COP19 in Warsaw in 2013[67] governments continued to work toward the global framework but also adopted a rulebook for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and a mechanism to address loss and damage caused by long-term climate change impacts. Gathering in Lima for COP20/CMP10 at the end of 2014,[68] governments defined the core elements of the upcoming agreement, and agreed on the ground rules to submit national contributions in the run up to the 2015 negotiation.

COP21 held in Paris in December 2015 is widely recognized as a historic achievement.[69] With the leadership of the United Nations Secretary-General and President Hollande of France, and beating previous records of Head of State gatherings on one day, 155 Heads of State came together to send a strong political signal of support for an ambitious and effective agreement.[70] On the final day under the presidency of Laurent Fabius the 195 governments which are Parties to the Climate Change Convention unanimously adopted the Paris Agreement, with the goal of accelerating the intentional transformation of the global economy toward low carbon and high resilience.[71]

Figueres spent much of her tenure approaching key stakeholders beyond governments by engaging insurance companies,[72] the science community,[73] faith groups,[74] youth[75] and women's groups,[76] and other members of society,[77] encouraging them to partake in the global efforts to address climate change. In 2013, she addressed the World Coal Association, commented that the coal industry faces risks in adjusting to climate change, but inviting them to be a part of the global solution.[78]

Christiana Figueres completed her second term as Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC on 6 July 2016.[79] She has since worked as convenor of Mission 2020[80] and in November 2019 became Chair of the High Level Advisory Board of the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change.[81]

United Nations Secretary-General candidacy

On 7 July 2016, Christina Figueres became the official Costa Rican candidate for the United Nations Secretary General.[5] She was an early frontrunner, but decided to withdraw in September after garnishing insufficient support in the third and fourth round of voting.[6]

During the UN Secretary General debate held by Al Jazeera, Christina Figuerres raised her hand when the candidates were all asked who thought victims of cholera deserved an apology.[82] The UN's role in the Haiti cholera outbreak has been widely discussed and criticized. There is evidence that the UN peacekeepers was the proximate cause for bringing cholera to Haiti.[83] Thirty-seven human rights organizations signed a UN Secretary General accountability pledge asking the candidates to take action on two human rights violations that have damaged the United Nations' image: failing to provide remedies for victims of cholera in Haiti, and sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers.[84] Despite her stance at the UNSG debates, her office declined to support the pledge."[85]

Awards and honours

Figueres has been awarded several honours and awards, including honorary doctorates at three universities.

  • The Great Cross of the Order of Merit of Germany in 1985.
  • Hero for the Planet Award by the National Geographic Magazine and the Ford Motor Company, March 2001, in recognition of international leadership in sustainable energy
  • Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau, of The Netherlands[86]
  • The Legion of Honor of France[87]
  • The Grand Medal of the City of Paris[88]
  • The National Guayacan Medal from Costa Rica[89]
  • The Ewald von Kleist Award from the Munich Security Conference[90]
  • The 2015 Medal of Honour from The Guardian[91]
  • The 2015 Hero of El Pais newspaper of Spain[92]
  • The 2016 Solar Champion Award from California's Vote Solar[93]
  • The Power with Purpose 2016 Award from Devex and McKinnsey[94]
  • The 2016 Joan Bavaria Award from CERES[95]
  • The Nature Journal of Science listed her first on the list of 2015 Top 10[96]
  • Foreign Policy Magazine recognized her as the 2015 Global Thinker[97]
  • Fortune magazine listed her number seven of the World's 2016 50 Greatest Leaders, the only female Latin American to be listed[98]
  • Time magazine included in the top 100 influential leaders of the world[99]
  • Honorary doctorate of law degree by University of Massachusetts Boston[100]
  • Honorary doctorate by Concordia University[101]
  • Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Georgetown University[102]

Books
  • Co-author with Tom Rivett-Carnac, The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis (Manilla Press, 2020) ISBN 9780525658351.[103][10]

See also

References
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External video
Former UN Climate Chief says Australia needs to ditch coal, Matter Of Fact With Stan Grant, ABC News
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Yvo de Boer		 Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
2010–2016		 Succeeded by
Patricia Espinosa
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