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Turkey’s Fatih Birol, France’s Laurence Tubiana and Brazil’s Izabella Teixeira are all potential candidates to replace Christiana Figueres at the head of the UN climate body. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images and AP
Turkey’s Fatih Birol, France’s Laurence Tubiana and Brazil’s Izabella Teixeira are all potential candidates to replace Christiana Figueres at the head of the UN climate body. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images and AP

Who’s in line to be the next UN climate change chief?

This article is more than 8 years old
Ed King for Climate Home, part of the Guardian Environment Network

The UN wants an official with ‘high professional standing and an intimate knowledge of the issues’ to replace Christiana Figueres when she leaves in July. Climate Home looks at the potential candidates

There’s a well-paid vacancy at the United Nations going at the moment.

After six years in the hot-seat, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres is off, with a global pact at the top of her CV.

The hunt is on for her replacement, the UN job portal is open, the salary in the region of $200,000 (£143,000).

Applicants need to demonstrate vision, communication skills, experience of working with senior leaders and be a patient sort.

With less than five years until a new global pact comes into force, it’s a critical time for whoever takes over, with the prospect of little glory but plenty of graft.

On the downside you have to live in Bonn. On the upside it requires a lot of travel so you won’t be there much.

The UN climate body has only had four heads: one from Malta, two from the Netherlands and the incumbent from Costa Rica. History favours candidates from small countries, not permanent members of the UN security council.

Climate Home has canvassed opinion from the international climate change community – here’s a rundown of the top 10 names being discussed (in no particular order).

Patricia Espinosa (Mexico)

Photograph: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP/Getty Images

Mexico’s ambassador to Germany is highly regarded in climate circles, having taken over the presidency of the UN talks in 2010 with the Copenhagen hangover still raging. Careful diplomacy and a tight alliance with Figueres saw the Cancun talks get back on track after the Danish disaster.

Fatih Birol (Turkey)

Photograph: Pat Sullivan/AP

If the UN wants to emphasise its commitment to implementation between now and 2020, the executive director of the International Energy Agency could be a decent bet. The Turkish economist is on the UN’s Sustainable Energy 4 All panel and is a respected media performer.

Manuel Pulgar Vidal (Peru)

Manuel Pulgar Vidal next to Christina Figueres at COP20 in Lima, 2014. Photograph: Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images

Lima’s environment chief has an election coming up, potentially freeing him up for other pursuits. Credited with ensuring UN talks were more open and transparent in 2014, MPV was asked to assist COP21 president Laurent Fabius in Paris as a bridge with civil society groups.

Pa Ousman Jarju (Gambia)

Pa Ousman Jarju of Gambia next to Grace Adhiambo of Kenya. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters

The lean and quiet environment minister of the Gambia lives on the frontline of climate change, a powerful advocate for investment in adaptation and loss and damage. One-time head of the Least Developed Countries group was chosen to be one of Fabius’ advisors in the closing stages of Paris.

Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko (South Africa)

US secretary of state John Kerry with South African environment minister Edna Molewa (L), chairperson of the G-77 Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko, and Chinese climate change envoy Xie Zhenhua (R) at COP21 climate talks.
Photograph: Alamy

Diseko brought a touch of drama and glamour to UN talks through 2015, fiercely defending the 134-strong Group of 77 she was charged with leading. She’s an old hand at the UN and one of the key advisors to the South African government during the 2011 COP17 summit in Durban.

Dessima Williams (Grenada)

Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images

Former chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, Grenada ambassador to the UN and Oxfam climate advisor, Williams is a UN talks veteran. She’s another potential candidate who lives on the climate frontline, often writing about the impact of rising sea levels on her home.

André Corrêa do Lago (Brazil)

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

An architecture critic, author, economist and diplomat, there are apparently few subjects Corrêa do Lago cannot discuss with authority. Brazil’s smooth and media-friendly ambassador to Japan was – until 2012 – its head of climate negotiations, and chief negotiator at the Rio+20 talks.

Teresa Ribera (Spain)

Photograph: Cristina Quicler/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary of state for climate change between 2008-2011, Ribera now runs the Paris-based IDDRI thinktank, which played a key behind-the-scenes role helping the French government at COP21. An established name on the circuit, Ribera has also led IDDRI’s Latin American outreach.

Laurence Tubiana (France)

Photograph: IISD/Kiara Worth

If Laurent Fabius was the face of the UN climate talks, Tubiana was the brains trust behind the project, advising the COP president on the technical aspects of a climate deal. A warm personality who made many new friends in the past year, it’s doubtful she’d want to swap Paris for Bonn.

Izabella Teixeira (Brazil)

Photograph: Cris Bouroncle/AFP/Getty Images

When Paris looked in trouble, France turned to Teixeira to resolve the developed v developing divide at UN talks. A robust negotiator and career civil servant who rarely smiles in public, she was the face of the Rio+20 talks and sits on the UN high level panel for post-2015 development.

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