We have a critical opportunity right now to make sure
the next U.N. climate chief will serve the needs of the global community
of
women, and we need to seize it.

With Yvo de Boer stepping down as executive secretary
of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.N.
Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon will be appointing a replacement. 
The role of the executive secretary is critical to achieving a fair,
ambitious, and binding climate agreement, and a strong successor to de
Boer is
absolutely essential for Cancun
and beyond.

What will make for a strong UNFCCC executive secretary?
The Climate Action Network has issued
a letter articulating important qualifications, which include
political
leadership, experience with negotiations, commitment to civil society,
and a
thorough understanding of the challenges of development in the Global
South.

As leaders of organizations working at the forefront
of environmental and women’s issues in the Global South, we’d like to
add
another qualification to that list: an understanding of the full range
of
gender issues, including access to reproductive health and family
planning.

Women make up half of the world’s population and 70
percent of the world’s poor, produce up to 80 percent of agricultural
products
in places like sub-Saharan Africa, and stand to face the brunt of
climate
change.

Three female candidates
are rumored to be under consideration:  Maria
Fernanda
Espinoza from Ecuador, Elizabeth
Thompson from Barbados, and Christiana
Figueres from Costa Rica. These women occupy distinct and noteworthy
positions within the larger environmental and climate diplomatic
circles.  Espinoza has held the post of minister for foreign affairs,
and
is the current Ecuadorian representative to the U.N.  Thompson has a
well-known reputation for excellence in diplomacy, having led the
Barbados
governmental delegation to Kyoto.  Figueres
is a formidable negotiator on climate change and an expert on carbon
markets.