Christiana Figueres

Christiana Figueres will be teaching during Wisdom & Wellbeing Week 5 | Multi-Faculty | January 30 – February 6, 2027 about the following topic:

Rising Strong – The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis

Many may feel stressed, upset, or even powerless about climate change. Yet in these moments, Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat who became the chief architect of the Paris Climate Accord, explains how we can awaken to the reality of interconnectedness and rise strong to meet this planetary crisis.

Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican citizen and was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010-2016.

During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C in order to protect the most vulnerable. For this achievement Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy, for which she has received multiple awards. Since then she has continued to serve her “one and only boss” — the global atmosphere.

Christiana Figueres sits on multiple boards and is a founding partner of Global Optimism, Ltd., a purpose-driven enterprise focused on social and environmental change. She convenes Mission 2020 and co-chairs the Global Covenant of Mayors.