Biography

Ms. Christiana Figueres is an internationally recognized leader in the global climate change field. A native of Costa Rica, she has been an official negotiator of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol since 1995, and she is a prime promoter of Latin America's active participation in the Climate Convention.

In 1995 she founded the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas (CSDA), which she directed until 2003. As a designer of cutting edge policies, projects and financial instruments in the field of sustainable energy and conservation, she is a senior level advisor to energy and environment ministers throughout Latin America. She is a widely published author and a frequent chairperson at international conferences. Being an accomplished public speaker, she often participates in radio and television programs on conservation, energy and environment. She won the Hero for the Planet award from National Geographic and the Ford Motor Company in March, 2001.

Formerly Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Region for the United States Export Council on Renewable Energy and Senior Counsel at the Hawthorn Group, Ms. Figueres has over thirty years experience in the Costa Rican government, the United Nations Development Programme, and as an independent consultant. Ms. Figueres has a Bachelors Degree from Swarthmore College and a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics. She is fluent in Spanish, English and German.