What does it take to turn a demoralised organisation around? How to convince 195 states to sign up to the Paris agreement? What does Christiana Figueres have to say about RCP8.5 and those still believing there will be no energy transition? Find out in Episode 6 of Cleaning Up. Christiana Figueres was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in July 2010, six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. During the next six years she worked to rebuild the global climate change negotiating process, leading to the 2015 Paris Agreement, widely recognized as a historical achievement. Christiana comes from the most prominent diplomatic/political family in Costa Rica. Her father, José Figueres Ferrer, was President of Costa Rica three times; her mother was an Ambassador and member of the Legislative Assembly; and her older brother José Figueres Olsen, was also President of Costa Rica. She is also a fellow podcaster: make sure to follow Outrage and Optimism!
Further reading:
Christiana’s bio on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiana\_Figueres
Michael’s November 2011 Businessweek Column: “Ya Basta: Stop the UN Climate Charade” http://www.liebreich.com/214-2/
Michael’s December 2015 BloombergNEF blog: “We’ll always have Paris”
https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-well-always-have-paris/
Outrage and Optimism https://globaloptimism.com/podcast/
The Future we Choose (on Amazon)
https://www.amazon.com/Future-We-Choose-Climate-Crisis/dp/1838770828