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Christiana Figueres

A group of people in formal attire having a discussion at an event, with a woman in a patterned jacket standing prominently in the center.

A decade after the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, the treaty’s architect looks back at its legacy

Climate Change

As diplomats, scientists and activists from around the globe convene in Belém, Brazil, for COP30, The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Christiana Figueres, the former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and one of the architects of the Paris Agreement.

The bust of French statesman Robert Schuman, one of the founders of the European Union, is seen while environmental activists launch a hot air balloon during a demonstration outside of an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 10, 2020.

5 years into Paris agreement, net-zero pledges are boosting optimism

Climate Change
In this file photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the closing session of the US-China Climate Leaders Summit in Los Angeles, California, Sept. 16, 2015.

Paris agreement gets ‘new lease on life’ under Biden, climate advocates say

Climate Change
A person holds a replica of a burning globe in the air with fake flames coming out of it.

‘The mother of all injustices is climate change,’ says former diplomat and climate change leader

The Big Fix
A woman speaks at a podium

‘The Future We Choose’: A new book outlines strategies for surviving climate change

Climate Change
Christiana Figueres at the UN

Former UN climate chief: Trump’s energy order not ‘a big deal’ for climate agreement

Environment

Christiana Figueres says the landmark Paris agreement on climate change is “not at risk” due to Donald Trump’s policies.

UN Leader Optimistic About Global Climate Deal

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Secretariat stopped by the Living on Earth studios on her way from the University of Massachusetts Boston to the next phase of international climate negotiations that began in Bonn, Germany on April 29. The Bonn session is one of many leading up to a final meeting in Paris, France in 2015 when nations have pledged to come together on a binding deal to expand the Kyoto Protocol to include all major emitters of global warming gases.

UN Climate Negotiators Meet in China

Delegates from more than 150 different nations are in China this week in advance of COP 16, a major meeting of the international climate treaty organization in Cancun, Mexico in December. COP 15 in Copenhagen ended with much disarray but the top official

The World

New Leadership on Climate Change

Costa Rican Christiana Figueres is replacing Yvo de Boer as the new Executive Secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. She discusses the prospects for climate cooperation with Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood.