UN head nominates new chief for climate agency

The head of the United Nations on Tuesday nominated Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa to lead the international body’s climate change agency.

The 11-member bureau governing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) must approve Espinosa’s appointment before she can take charge of the agency.

{mosads}But UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s selection holds great weight, as the bureau has never rejected an appointment to lead the climate change agency in its 24-year history, according to Reuters.

Espinosa, 57, is currently Mexico’s ambassador to Germany. She has previously served as ambassador to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, and has also been Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs.

As head of UNFCCC, Espinosa would be the top official in charge of enforcing and moving forward last year’s historic Paris climate agreement, in which nearly 200 countries agreed to individual measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

She would also be responsible for the regularly occurring efforts to strengthen the agreement, along with other international climate diplomacy actions.

Espinosa oversaw the 2010 meeting of all of the UNFCCC parties and was credited with leading efforts to put climate negotiations back on track after the failed 2009 meeting in Copenhagen.

She would replace Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat who plans to step down in July after leading UNFCCC for six years.