Christiana Figueres is a globally recognized leader in climate diplomacy and an advocate for positivity about climate. She is best known for uniting 195 nations to adopt the UN's historic climate change accord, known as the Paris Agreement, which committed the signatories to take action on global warming. A visionary strategist and coalition builder, Figueres has inspired global efforts in carbon reduction, climate resilience, and sustainable development. Her staunch commitment to diplomacy and collective action continues to shape the fight against climate change and its effect on the planet, humans, and animals.
Born in Costa Rica in 1956, Figueres was raised in a family committed to public service. Her father, José Figueres Ferrer, was a three-time president of Costa Rica known for advancing democracy and social justice; while her mother, Karen Olsen Beck, was a diplomat and legislator; and her brother, José Maria Figueres, served as president of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. Figueres studied at Swarthmore College in the United States before earning a master's degree in anthropology from the London School of Economics.
Christiana Figueres' key achievements span decades of climate diplomacy. She started her life of public service as minister counselor at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Bonn, Germany in 1982. Moving to the US, she was director of Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA) and in 1995 founded the non-profit Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA) which she directed for eight years, later negotiating in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
In 2010, she was appointed executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at a time when international climate change negotiations were in crisis after the failed Copenhagen conference of 2009. She undertook the formidable challenge of rebuilding trust among nations, culminating in the 2015 climate change agreement. Figueres brought together national and sub national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and communities of faith, think tanks and technology providers, NGOs and parliamentarians, to jointly deliver this unprecedented climate change agreement. For this achievement, Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy.
In 2017, she co-founded Global Optimism, an organization promoting climate action through partnerships across business, policy, and activism—through a mindset she calls “stubborn optimism.“ In 2019, she co-authored a book
The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis (the stubborn optimist's approach to climate change), outlining pragmatic strategies to tackle climate challenges. In 2023, she expanded her reach through digital platforms to co-host the podcast series Outrage + Optimism, an initiative where she invites activists, scientists, politicians, and policymakers to continue shaping the climate discourse on pressing challenges and solutions.
In recent years, Figueres has broadened her attention to the necessity of a shift in mindset, emphasizing that "there is no path to net zero without nature recovery" and advocating integrating financial investment and nature conservation to achieve sustainable outcomes for both the planet and the economy.
Figueres has gained recognition from governments, civil society, press, and journals. She has been named one of TIME 100's most influential people in the world. Her contribution has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the
Legion d'Honneur from France in 2015, the Dan David Prize in 2016, and the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), and the Great Negotiator Prize from Harvard Law School, both in 2022.
In the natural world, a newly discovered tropical moth (Struthoscelis christianafigueresae), a wasp (Pseudapanteles christianafigueresae) and an orchid (Vanilla karen-christianae) have been named after her. In 2017, Costa Rica issued a commemorative postage stamp in her honor.