In the end, the appointment for the new UN climate change chief came faster than expected and not for the person that was widely considered — at least in the press speculations of the last weeks — to be the front runner to replace departing Yvo de Boer who had announced his resignation as UNFCCC Executive Secretary just two months after Copenhagen. In place of Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the former South African Environment and current
Tourism Minister, on whose win most climate bookies had placed their bets, Christiana Figueres (pictured at the center), a 53 year old Costa Rican veteran climate negotiator, was chosen yesterday by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon just a week before climate talks are to resume in Bonn. She certainly is a UNFCCC insider having been involved in UN climate negotiations since 1994 in many functions, including repeatedly as contact groups chair for the CDM or emissions trading. But can Christiana Figueres catalyze climate talks with only six months to go to the next crucial COP in Cancun?
Personally, I hope she has at least a good fighting change, mainly because of some of her strengths and distinct qualifications … among which I would certainly count the fact that it is MADAME Figueres not MISTER Figueres assuming leadership of the UNFCCC Secretariat.
At a bare minimum, the leadership of a woman might be a plus to the UN Climate Convention at a time when — post-Copenhagen — trust-building and improved communication among states and stakeholders are key tasks for the Secretariat. Some observers of the role that women in leadership roles have played in the UN climate talks, have pointed to a different quality of consensus-oriented unifying diplomacy, a longer time-horizon, or a more human and less science focused outlook that these female climate players have brought into the negotiations, and which distinguished them from the majority of their male counterparts.
Indeed, Ms. Figueres might find in these qualities her biggest strength as new UNFCCC chief. It was such quiet, yet persistent diplomacy and (background) persuasion by Ms. Figueres and her supporters (including a Facebook site with close to 3000 friends) which propelled her from an “add-on” candidate who was not even on the original list as a de Boer-successor to the top of the pack and ultimately to be Ban Ki-Moon’s choice. She secured the support of the small island states, which because of their vulnerability to climate change pack heavy moral weight among the Convention parties and whose acceptance of a global climate deal will be a seal of relative fairness. And her 15-year history with UNFCCC negotiations as well as her hands-on experience in finding compromises and solutions as chair or co-chair of numerous contact groups (see a detailed CV from Ms. Figueres own website) seem to indicate not only commitment to the process, but also stamina, dedication, the ability to forge and maintain alliances, and most importantly, patience and a long breath. All of which she will need to revitalize the talks, rebuilt trust among its parties and find compromises and common ground which don’t compromise climate stabilization and adaptation efforts.
The selection of Ms. Figures is not only the selection of an experienced climate bureaucrat, social entrepreneur and diplomat, it is furthermore an amplification that women are not just victims of climate change (as is often portrayed in the adaptation debate), but also powerful actors with distinct qualities and contributions who have an important role to play in climate negotiations. She is the second female UNFCCC Secretary after the late Joke Waller-Hunter (2002-2005). If one were just to look at its top leadership, the UNFCCC seems to have achieved gender-parity: two men, two women, alternating since 1994.
Unfortunately, this is more anecdotal than programmatic. Or is it? Maybe UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was intend on avoiding the flak he received when he appointed the 19 members of the High Level Advisory Panel on Climate Change Finances and forgot to include women experts (see an earlier blog entry). In any case: how nice it would be if the UNFCCC could finally come to grips with and take into account gender in its programmatic work, not just in its payroll. In contrast to other Rio Conventions set up after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the UNFCCC still has neither a gender reference in the convention nor an official gender policy — not to mention an elaborate gender action plan such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) sports. This is the UNFCCC’s shame and the world’s loss.
Does a woman at the helm ensure a new climate for gender at the UN climate talks? Not necessarily. Being a female leader does not guarantee an interest in nor a passion for gender issues. More important than the gender of the new UNFCCC Secretary is undoubtedly the person’s commitment to gender-inclusive global climate change policy. And indeed, in the past, Ms. Figueres was known not as an outspoken advocate for gender aspects of climate change but as an early champion and promoter of carbon finance opportunities, especially also for the private sector.
But her appointment sets a strong signal for a fresh start, a different diplomatic play and perspective, and might encourage more women and gender experts to get more heavily engaged in UN climate talks, as they perceive a new opening and opportunity. Gender groups, more than other constituencies at the UNFCCC, did leave Copenhagen with some hope and a sense of what might be. Having made a strong — maybe the best ever –showing at a COP in Copenhagen and having ensured the inclusion of important gender language in the working group texts, they are willing to press onward to Cancun and beyond. It would be terrific if Secretary Figueres could be a gender and climate champion, too.
Photo: Christiana Figueres with Creative Commons License
Tags: Climate change, Climate regime, gender, UNFCCC
