UN climate change chief steps down

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UFCCC), has announced she will step down from the post in July 2016.

Figueres has formally written to governments and observers under the UN climate change process announcing her intention to step down from the post on Friday, February 19, following the end of her six-year term.

In a letter, Figueres hailed the Paris agreement reached at the end of the last year as historical, and said she would not accept the extension of her appointment which ends on July 6, 2016.

“It is with deep gratitude to all of you that I write to formally announce that I will serve out my term as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which finishes on July 6, 2016, and not accept an extension of my appointment. The Paris Agreement is a historical achievement, built on years of increasing willingness to construct bridges of collaboration and solidarity. It has been an honor to support you along this path over the past six years.

“We now move into a phase of urgent implementation. The journey that lies ahead will require continued determination, ingenuity and, above all, our collective sense of humanity and purpose. I know that together you will again rise to the task,” Figueres said in a letter.