For better or for worse, climate change has a woman’s face.
The effects of global warming, one of the biggest environmental problems, affect women the most, who are the link between energy, water and food.
But if we analize the situation, there is no doubt that it has a Costa Rican woman’s face.
The BBC broadcast a report called “These are the 5 most powerful women in world science”. Costa Rican Christiana Figueres is on that list.
From 2012 to 2016, Figueres was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Thanks to her work, 195 countries agreed to stop environmental damage.
In the framework of International Women’s Day, here there are Christiana Figueres’ personal opinions:
Being a woman has never stopped me and I rather feel that it has helped me: if climate change has a face, it is a woman’s, because women are the most affected by it. So, from being a climate change’s victim to being the ones that solve the problem, far from stopping me, was one of the most important factors. That does not mean that women do not have obstacles. I was very blessed and maybe because I was so stubborn I started to pave the way, but that does not mean that women have an open path. I think the general rule is that for women it is very difficult.
When asked about her candidacy to the General Secretariat of the United Nations, she answered that at the UN Security Council, they are not ready for a woman:
It is sad because the UN is 70 years old and a woman has not arrived yet. An opportunity was wasted. In addition, the fact that Costa Rica is a country of peace was not very well understood by a Security Council that is at the center of a lot of armed conflicts.
When asked about conflicts that could hve been avoided if a woman had played an important role, she stated the following:
I do believe that this is true: there are 2 genres. It is not a mistake. The 2 genres complement each other very well and if this does not happen you are not seeing the entire situation. If you have complementary perspectives on the same subject or goal, you have a more-complete and integrated mission. The absence of women’s contributions make people see everything from one perspective. We would have made more progress if we had had more women.