A graduate of Anthropology studies from the London School of Economics, Christiana Figueres led the way to a universally agreed regulatory framework to curb the effects of climate change.

 

She became the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), working toward international climate change negotiations.

 

Figueres directed many conferences on climate change from 2010 through 2014, ultimately achieving the historical Paris Agreement of 2015.
 

Awards and acknowledgements:

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Talberg Foundation 2016 Global Leader

Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau of The Netherlands

Legion of Honor of France

Grand Medal City of Paris

National Guayacan Medal from Costa Rica

Ewald von Kleist Award from the Munich Security Conference

2015 Medal of Honour from The Guardian

2015 Hero of El Pais newspaper in Spain

2016 Solar Champion Award from California’s Vote Solar

British Renewable Energy Judges Award 2016

Power with Purpose 2016 Award from Devex and McKinnsey

2016 Joan Bavaria Award from CERES

CK Pralahad Award 2016 from the Corporate Eco Forum

Greatest and influential leaders lists from Fortune and Time magazines

 

She was also the Director of Renewable Energy in the Americans (REIA) and founded the non-profit Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA) in 1995.¹

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The UNFCCC notes Figueres’ is a “widely published author on the design of climate solutions” and that she has served on multiple boards of organizations, not related to government, that are dedicated to solving climate change issues.²

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Figueres is a published author and in her October 2016 blog article “This is the 'go' toward a low carbon future”³ in The Huffington Post, she states “We can deliver cleaner air, healthier cities, and a new kind of ‘industrial revolution’ underpinned by technologies that enable us to live a prosperous life within the boundaries our planet can sustain.”




 

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Figueres, C. (2016) Christiana Figueres. Available at: http://www.christianafigueres.com/#/ (Accessed: 6 December 2016).¹

Christiana Figueres (2007) Available at: http://unfccc.int/secretariat/executive_secretary/items/9693.php (Accessed: 6 December 2016).²

Huffington Post (2016) Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/christiana-figueres/this-is-the-go-toward-a-l_b_12361076.html (Accessed: 6 December 2016).³