Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen was born on 7 August 1956 and is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations.
26 Facts About Christiana Figueres
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Christiana Figueres was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in July 2010, six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen.
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Christiana Figueres is a founder of the Global Optimism group, co-author of The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis along with Tom Rivett-Carnac, and co-host of the popular podcast Outrage and Optimism.
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Christiana Figueres' mother, Karen Olsen Beck, served as Costa Rican Ambassador to Israel in 1982 and was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 1994.
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Christiana Figueres moved to the German Humboldt Schule in the capital and later graduated from Lincoln High School.
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Christiana Figueres travelled to England for a year of A Level studies before entering Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1979.
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Christiana Figueres then went to the London School of Economics for a master's degree in social anthropology and graduated in 1981.
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Christiana Figueres' daughter Naima was born in Guatemala in March 1988, and daughter Yihana was born in Washington DC in December 1989.
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Christiana Figueres began her public service career as Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Bonn, West Germany, from 1982 to 1985.
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Christiana Figueres served as the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture between 1988 and 1990.
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Christiana Figueres supervised the execution of 22 national programs involving training, credit and marketing.
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In 1989 Christiana Figueres moved with her husband to Washington DC, and for several years devoted herself to the upbringing of their two daughters.
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In 1994, Christiana Figueres re-entered professional life and became the Director of the Renewable Energy in the Americas initiative, today housed at the Organization of American States.
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In 1995 Christiana 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.
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Christiana Figueres worked there as executive director for eight years.
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In 2002 Christiana Figueres proposed a "Sectoral CDM" under which developing countries would be encouraged to develop regional or sectoral projects that could be the result of specific sustainable development policies.
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In December 2005 Christiana Figueres took the idea to the COP11 in Montreal, and achieved support for it on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
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Christiana Figueres then took the lead in negotiating the concept with the various groups of industrialized countries, finally attaining a Conference of the Parties decision to allow "programs of activities" in the CDM.
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In 2008 and 2009 Christiana Figueres collaborated with private sector companies that aligned themselves with climate friendly goals.
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Christiana Figueres served as Senior Adviser to C-Quest Capital, a carbon finance company focusing on programmatic CDM investments.
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Christiana Figueres was the Principal Climate Change Advisor to ENDESA Latinoamerica, the largest private utility in Latin America with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru.
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Christiana Figueres was Vice Chair of the Rating Committee of the Carbon Rating Agency, the first entity to apply credit rating expertise to carbon assets.
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Christiana Figueres spent much of her tenure approaching key stakeholders beyond governments by engaging technology providers, financial institutions including insurance companies, the science community, faith groups, youth and women's groups, and other members of society, encouraging them to partake in the global efforts to address climate change.
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Christiana Figueres is a founder of the Global Optimism group, co-author of the book The Future We Choose and co-host of the popular podcast Outrage and Optimism.
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On 7 July 2016, Christiana Figueres became the official Costa Rican candidate for the United Nations Secretary General.
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Christiana Figueres has been awarded several honours and awards, including several honorary doctorates.