Costa Rica’s Christiana Figueres withdraws UN chief candidacy

Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres said on Monday that she has withdrawn her candidacy for the top post at the United Nations, after failing to find sufficient support at the Security Council.

“All of the (straw) polls at the Security Council indicate that my candidacy does not have much future,” Figueres said at a press conference alongside Foreign Minister Manuel Gonzalez.

Gonzalez added: “You have to read the signs.”

Figueres expressed hope that the United Nations would choose a woman to replace Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has been in office since 2007 and whose second term ends December 31.

Gonzalez said that Costa Rica has pressed for a woman to lead the world body, even before tapping Figueres, and will continue to work toward that goal.

The world body has never had a female leader in its 70 years.

Figueres, who threw her hat in the ring in July, headed the negotiations that led to the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.