Christiana Figueres

Why organisations work with Christiana Figueres

• She ran the Paris Agreement negotiation directly – not as a consultant or commentator, but as the UN official accountable for the outcome. The political dynamics, the pressure points, and the coalition mechanics she describes are firsthand.
• Her “Stubborn Optimism” framework, introduced in The Future We Choose (Penguin Random House, 2020), gives leadership teams a named, deployable posture for climate action – one that moves beyond paralysis without slipping into greenwashing.
• She holds board positions at ACCIONA and ACCIONA Energía, placing her at the intersection of executive decision-making and large-scale energy transition – not just policy theory.
• The Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation awarded her the Great Negotiator Award in 2022 – the same honour previously given to figures who shaped international law and treaty architecture. For leadership teams navigating multi-stakeholder climate commitments, that credential is directly relevant.
• Her network spans 195 national governments, financial institutions, and private sector actors – the precise ecosystem any organisation must understand when building a serious climate governance position.

Biography highlights

• Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2010-2016
• Principal architect of the 2015 Paris Agreement – unanimous adoption by 195 sovereign nations
• 2022 Great Negotiator Award, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School
• Co-author, The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimists’ Guide to the Climate Crisis (Penguin Random House, 2020)
• Honorary DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire), 2022; Legion of Honor of France, 2015
• Fortune #7, World’s 50 Greatest Leaders, 2016; Time Top 100 Most Influential Leaders, 2016; Nature Journal Top 10, 2015 (ranked first)
• Chair, The Earthshot Prize Foundation, 2021-2026; Board member, ACCIONA and ACCIONA Energía
• Graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics; honorary doctorates from Yale, Georgetown, University of Edinburgh, and University of Massachusetts; named to BBC 100 Women list, 2023

Biography

In December 2015, 195 nations unanimously adopted the Paris Agreement on climate change. The UN official responsible for making that outcome possible was Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC from 2010 to 2016 – appointed six months after the catastrophic collapse of the Copenhagen summit, when the prospect of a global accord looked remote.

The process she built over those six years is now documented in a Harvard Law School case study. What distinguished it was a systematic approach to coalition-building: drawing together governments, financial institutions, faith communities, scientists, and private sector actors through a model of collaborative diplomacy that broke the political deadlock that had stalled climate negotiations for a decade. The Harvard Program on Negotiation recognised this with the Great Negotiator Award in 2022 – placing her alongside figures who have shaped international law and treaty architecture.

Her published work extends the argument beyond diplomacy. The Future We Choose (Penguin Random House, 2020), co-authored with Tom Rivett-Carnac, introduces “Stubborn Optimism” as a named framework for climate leadership – a gritty, reality-grounded mindset that allows executives and institutions to act decisively without being paralysed by the scale of the problem. Her TED talk on the concept has reached a wide professional audience, and the three-part structure of the book – mindsets, choices, actions – has become a practical reference point for organisations setting net-zero strategy.

Figueres co-founded Global Optimism, co-hosts the Outrage + Optimism podcast, and serves on the boards of ACCIONA and ACCIONA Energía. She holds honorary doctorates from Yale, Georgetown, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Massachusetts, and was named an Honorary DBE in 2022.

Key speaking topics

• Global climate governance and the Paris Agreement
• Corporate net-zero strategy and climate risk
• Collaborative diplomacy and multi-stakeholder negotiation
• ESG strategy and climate-related regulatory exposure
• Energy transition policy and renewable energy investment
• Stubborn Optimism as a leadership framework
• Climate science communication and public persuasion

Ideal for

• Boards and C-suite executives setting or stress-testing net-zero commitments
• Chief Sustainability Officers and ESG leadership teams navigating disclosure requirements
• Government affairs and public policy functions tracking international climate regulation
• Financial institutions building climate-aligned investment frameworks

Audience outcomes

• A working model of how global climate policy is made – and where corporate strategy intersects with it
• Direct insight into the negotiation architecture behind the Paris Agreement and its implications for current climate commitments
• A named, practical framework – Stubborn Optimism – for sustaining organisational climate action without paralysis or performance
• Clearer understanding of where international climate governance is heading and what that means for regulation, capital allocation, and competitive positioning
• Greater confidence in engaging regulators, investors, and international institutions on climate strategy