United Nations: Senate Dems Praise Figueres' Bid For Secretary-General

"Two leading U.S. Senate Democrats say last year's Paris climate deal should help one of its architects become the next U.N. secretary-general.

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said former U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres is right to make the agreement she helped broker a centerpiece in her bid to replace outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"I think climate change was a model to look at," said Cardin, who serves as top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "To get 190-some countries to agree on an action plan after so many false starts in the past -- I think ... someone who can achieve those results and will implement that, to me, is a relevant factor for the secretary-general of the United Nations."

Figueres, who officially entered the race for the top U.N. job last week, has touted her role in the collaborative diplomacy that laid the groundwork for Paris. "

Jean Chemnick reports for ClimateWire July 14, 2016.