WebConnect

18 May 2010

18th May 2010 London – Christiana Figueres has been appointed Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Until the appointment Ms Figueres had been Vice Chair of the Carbon Rating Agency (CRA), an IDEAcarbon company, and a member of the CRA rating committee.

IDEAcarbon is honoured and delighted that such a highly regarded and experienced figure has been appointed to this important post and we welcome her appointment wholeheartedly. We feel that this can herald a new impetus to the international negotiations to secure a new global deal for climate change, as Ms Figueres understands what is required to get the sector participants fully engaged and how financial flows can make a difference in mitigation, adaptation and market mechanisms.

Following the news of the nomination, Shandi Modi, CEO of IDEAcarbon said “Christiana Figueres’ background in finance makes her an excellent choice to shepherd the UNFCCC towards a global climate deal, with an integral role that the carbon markets can play in achieving its objectives. She is widely seen as a negotiator who is able to bring complex issues between parties to a common approach. I am sure we speak for many in the private sector in warmly congratulating Christiana and wishing her luck in her new position.”

Ian Johnson, Chairman of IDEAcarbon noted: “The private sector will really welcome this appointment – she understands what is needed to get the private sector more fully engaged in climate change and carbon markets.”

Christiana Figueres activities with Carbon Rating Agency and IDEAcarbon
 

Along with her long standing success as an international climate change negotiator, Ms Figueres has worked actively on the Carbon Rating Agency ratings committee, where she and others have reviewed and rated over 100 CDM/JI and voluntary projects. Additionally, Ms Figueres’ experience in programmatic CDM has led CRA to take a leading role in rating pCDM projects to set standards and bring liquidity to the initiative. Until her nomination, she was also Vice Chair of the Carbon Rating Agency.

For more details on Christiana’s work with CRA, please see http://www.ideacarbon.com/media/index.htm/The%20Carbon%20Rating%20Agency%20announces%20appointment%20of%20Christiana%20Figueres%20to%20its%20senior%20team

http://www.carbonratingsagency.com/cra/media/index.htm/Christiana%20Figueres%20on%20pCDM.

Additionally for details of her work for CARBONFirst, please e mail carbonfirst@ideacarbon.com

About Christiana Figueres

 

Christiana Figueres has been an official negotiator of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol since 1995 and is a former member of the CDM Executive Board. She is also founder of the Centre for Sustainable Development in the Americas (CSDA), which she directed until 2003.

 

About IDEAcarbon

IDEAcarbon, is an independent and professional provider of ratings, research and strategic advice on carbon finance. Founded by Shandi Modi, CEO and Ian Johnson, Chair and formerly Vice President of the World Bank, it is part of the IDEAGlobal group whose advisors include Lord Nick Stern and Nitin Desai. Its services are designed to provide leading financial institutions, corporations, governments, traders and developers with intelligence and analysis of the factors that affect the pricing of carbon market assets. The IDEAcarbon team are leading experts in the carbon and energy markets. They combine policy and financial intelligence with proprietary tools for the analysis of environmental risk. Their techniques assist their clients to manage and mitigate risk in today's fast developing markets in environmentral assets For more information please visit: www.ideacarbon.com

About the Carbon Rating Agency

The Carbon Rating Agency is a wholly owned subsidiary of IDEAcarbon. Its mission is to improve the functioning and efficiency of the carbon and environmental markets. The Carbon Rating Agency's ratings and opinions are unencumbered and independent - it does not trade, buy, sell or originate carbon credits. Further details of the Carbon Rating Agency’s approach to rating environmentalassets are available at www.carbonratingsagency.com

Media Contacts:

Kreab Gavin Anderson 020 7074 1800

ideacarbon@kreabgavinanderson.com

Matt O’Leary

Renfeng Zhao

Disclaimer:

All information contained herein has been obtained by the IDEAcarbon from sources believed by it to be accurate and reasonable. Although reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information herein is true, such information is provided ‘as is’ without any warranty of any kind, and the IDEAcarbon in particular, makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any such information. All information contained herein must be construed solely as statements of opinion.