Christiana Figueres

Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican diplomat and globally recognised climate leader who specialises in forging collaborative solutions to the climate crisis. As Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010 to 2016, she orchestrated the landmark Paris Agreement, uniting 195 nations to commit to limiting global warming to well below 2°C. Today, as co-founder of Global Optimism, co-host of the podcast Outrage + Optimism, and co-author of The Future We Choose, she continues to accelerate climate action worldwide. Her sessions equip audiences with the strategic frameworks and stubborn optimism needed to drive meaningful change, demonstrating how diverse stakeholders can move beyond paralysis towards practical, collaborative climate solutions within their own organisations.

Following the widely regarded failure of the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, Christiana Figueres accepted one of the most daunting assignments in international diplomacy: leading global climate negotiations at a moment when meaningful progress seemed impossible. Over six transformative years as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, she directed successful Conferences of the Parties across Cancún, Durban, Doha, Warsaw and Lima, steadily building the momentum that culminated in the historic Paris Agreement of December 2015. This landmark achievement brought together 195 nations in a legally binding commitment to limit global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C to protect the most vulnerable communities. Since leaving the UN in 2016, Figueres has continued to accelerate climate action as Founding Partner of Global Optimism, co-host of the podcast Outrage + Optimism, and co-author of The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis.

Throughout her tenure at the UNFCCC, Figueres pioneered a new model of collaborative diplomacy by forging an unprecedented coalition that extended far beyond traditional governmental negotiations. She brought together national and subnational governments, corporations, financial institutions, faith communities, women's groups, scientists, NGOs and activists to jointly deliver an agreement many had considered unattainable. For this work, she has received numerous international honours, including the Legion of Honour of France, decorations from Germany and the Netherlands, and recognition from Time magazine as one of the world's most influential leaders. In 2026, she was named co-chair of a Lancet Commission on sea level rise, health and justice, examining legal frameworks to hold countries accountable for climate-related health harms, with findings due by September 2027. A graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics, she remains a sought-after public speaker and media commentator, regularly addressing audiences from corporate boardrooms to spiritual communities on the urgent need for coordinated climate response.

Figueres offers audiences a rare combination of high-level diplomatic experience, strategic insight and practical optimism rooted in proven achievement. She helps organisations and leaders understand how to move beyond paralysis and conflict towards collaborative solutions that balance economic realities with urgent climate imperatives, demonstrating that transformational change becomes possible when diverse stakeholders unite around shared goals. Her speaking engagements equip audiences with the frameworks, mindset and confidence to drive meaningful climate action within their own spheres of influence, showing how stubborn optimism paired with clear-eyed realism can accelerate progress. Whether addressing corporate leaders, policymakers or activists, she delivers a compelling vision of how collective action can create a sustainable future, drawing on her unique experience of bringing the entire world together to confront humanity's greatest challenge.