Christiana Figueres

Christiana Figueres is one of the world’s most influential architects of global climate action. She is best known for steering the international negotiations that delivered the historic Paris Agreement.

As Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010 to 2016, Figueres took on a process widely viewed as gridlocked after the failed Copenhagen Accord. She built coalitions across governments, business, finance, and civil society, reshaping the architecture of climate diplomacy in the process. Figueres also replaced top-down negotiation with a model grounded in national interest, shared accountability, and practical implementation. This approach enabled an unprecedented agreement among 195 nations to limit global warming and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

For her achievements, Figueres is widely credited with forging a new model of collaborative diplomacy. She mobilises unlikely alliances and turns political complexity into actionable progress. Today, her leadership continues to shape how institutions, markets, and governments respond to systemic global risk.

Since leaving the UN, Christiana Figueres has remained at the forefront of climate leadership as Founding Partner of Global Optimism. She works with governments, investors, and major corporations to accelerate decarbonisation and economic transformation. She also co-hosts the widely followed podcast Outrage + Optimism and co-authored the bestselling book The Future We Choose, which outlines practical pathways to a net-zero future.

Figueres was formerly Chair of The Earthshot Prize Foundation and is a member of The B Team. She advises leaders across sectors on climate strategy, resilience, and long-term value creation.

A compelling and pragmatic speaker, she brings rare credibility across policy, finance, and corporate leadership. Christian Figueres speaks clearly about what it takes to move from commitment to execution and addresses the political realities, economic trade-offs, and leadership decisions required to deliver climate action at scale.