Christiana Figueres Archives

Christiana Figueres, who piloted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change through years of negotiations to success in December 2015, will become chair of The Lancet Countdown’s high-level advisory board, the British medical publication announced recently. The Countdown project was established in November 2016 to monitor the effects of climate change on health and track progress … Read more

Guterres Leads Latest Poll for UN Secretary-General Again, but It May Not Matter

September 9, 2016September 9, 2016 by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

The latest Security Council straw poll pointing to the selection of the next secretary-general of the United Nations happened on Sept. 9, with the results leaving António Guterres of Portugal still the front-runner ever since the informal, anonymous balloting began in the Security Council in July. The latest poll is the fourth such vote; the … Read more

WORLDVIEWS

Personalities Can’t Be Ignored in Candidacies for UN Secretary-General

August 16, 2016 by Ingvild Bode

What personal qualities are needed to become a successful United Nations secretary-general? The 2016 campaign to select a new leader features many novelties in the UN’s history: an official list of candidates, public job interviews by the General Assembly and informal panel debates in London and New York. Civil society coalitions and the current president … Read more

Only 1 Woman in Top-3 Winners Again in UN Secretary-General Vote

August 7, 2016August 5, 2016 by Lori Silberman Brauner

With 11 candidates left in the race this year for United Nations secretary-general, the Security Council held its second straw poll on Aug. 5, showing a slight shift in levels of support by the council’s 15 members, but placing António Guterres of Portugal at the top again. Yet once more, only one woman, this time … Read more

Getting to Know the UN Secretary-General Candidates Better: A Wrap-Up of Two New York Forums

July 15, 2016July 14, 2016 by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

When it comes to the United Nations, the word “debate” takes on a civilized bearing, with no relation to heated contests among many sides. Over two nights this week at different settings in New York, UN secretary-general candidates campaigning to fill the shoes of Ban Ki-moon in January 2017 debated publicly. One event, held at … Read more

New Candidates for Secretary-General Make Their Cases at the UN

June 7, 2016 by Barbara Crossette

The field of nine candidates campaigning formally to become the next United Nations secretary-general grew by two on June 7, when Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakia’s foreign minister, and Susana Malcorra, who holds the same position in Argentina, spoke in public sessions lasting more than two hours each, taking questions from UN member delegates and civil society … Read more

The Field Grows and Shifts in the Race for UN Secretary-General

July 1, 2016June 1, 2016 by Barbara Crossette

The second crop of campaigners making a pitch to replace Ban Ki-moon in January is now being assembled, and it looks like the first declared candidate on the list may well shake up the race. She is Susana Malcorra, Argentina’s foreign minister and a well-respected, internationally known former United Nations official. The next round of … Read more

UN Puts on Big To-Do, Amid Tight Security, for Signing of New Climate Agreement

April 28, 2016April 22, 2016 by Dulcie Leimbach

The United Nations threw a large and lavish party at its headquarters in New York on Earth Day, the opening day of the signing ceremony for the world’s new climate agreement. About 170 heads of state and government representatives came to inscribe their names, in alphabetical order by country, in the General Assembly Hall, in … Read more

Paris Pact Staying Alive: Christiana Figueres’s New Role and More Data on Climate Change