Christiana Figueres: the woman tasked with saving the world from global warming

The UN climate chief is confident that the Paris summit can make history and produce a landmark deal to limit future carbon emissions - but any success depends on her pivotal role

The offices of the UN's climate change body in Bonn have glorious views over a pretty stretch of the Rhine river, looking out on grasslands and splendid old and new buildings. Just a short distance away is the historic campus most famous for being where the Marshall plan was signed after the second world war.

That plan, which channelled billions in American aid to rebuild European economies, was instrumental in creating modern Europe, and redrawing the global economy. Instead of the punitive measures and reparations inflicted on Germany in the Versailles treaty, the Marshall plan offered healing and financial support - a message of hope, not fear.