The character arc of Christiana Figueres

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 7 August 1956 in San Jose. Between then and now sit a Swarthmore degree in 1979, a London School of Economics master's in 1981, the Costa Rican embassy in Bonn from 1982, climate negotiation from 1995, the executive secretaryship of the UN climate convention from 2010, the Paris Agreement in December 2015, Global Optimism in 2016, The Future We Choose in 2020 and an honorary damehood in 2022. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Christiana Figueres?

She took the job after it had failed.

She was born in San Jose in 1956, took a degree at Swarthmore College in 1979 and a master's in social anthropology at the London School of Economics in 1981, with a further certificate in organisational development at Georgetown. She was a minister counsellor at the Costa Rican embassy in Bonn from 1982 to 1985, director of international cooperation and chief of staff to the minister of agriculture from 1987, and from 1994 ran a renewable energy initiative and the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas.

She was a climate negotiator from 1995. In 2010 she became Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The timing is the whole point: the talks at Copenhagen in 2009 had ended in a failure so complete that most people considered the process finished. She took the job in the year after that, which very few people wanted.

In December 2015, after six years, the Paris Agreement was reached, uniting a hundred and ninety five nations in a commitment on emissions. Getting that many governments to sign anything at all is an achievement in pure persistence, whatever anybody thinks of what has happened since. She left the post in 2016 and founded Global Optimism, wrote The Future We Choose with Tom Rivett-Carnac in 2020, received the Dan David Prize in 2019 and was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2022.

The moments

Christiana Figueres's timeline.

The 1970s

Jun 1979

Swarthmore, then the LSE

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Anthropology, which is a better training for a negotiator than most people would guess.

The 1980s

Jun 1982

The embassy in Bonn

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A first diplomatic post, in her twenties.

Jun 1987

Chief of staff

Milestone. Inside a government ministry, three years of it.

The 1990s

Jun 1994

Renewable energy

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Nine years running an organisation, before any international post.

Jun 1995

Fifteen years at the table

Milestone, and it changed everything. Fifteen years in the room before she ever ran it.

The 2010s

1 Mar 2010

Take the job, or leave it

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: take it anyway, taken, or let somebody else. A hundred and ninety five nations signed the Paris Agreement in December 2015.

Jul 2010

A job nobody wanted

Milestone, and it changed everything. She took it in the year after the process had collapsed, which is when almost nobody wanted it.

12 Dec 2015

The Paris Agreement

Milestone, and it changed everything. A hundred and ninety five governments signing one document. Whatever has followed, that took six years of persuading.

Jul 2016

Global Optimism

Milestone, and it changed everything. Out of the United Nations and into something of her own.

May 2019

The Dan David Prize

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A major international prize, three years after leaving the post.

The 2020s

25 Feb 2020

The Future We Choose

Milestone, and it changed her direction. The argument written down, for readers rather than delegations.

Jun 2022

An honorary damehood

Milestone. A British honour, for a Costa Rican diplomat.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is a hundred and ninety five signatures on one document, gathered by somebody who took the job in the year after the process had collapsed.

What she wrote

Books by Christiana Figueres

2020
The Future We Choose
Written with Tom Rivett-Carnac. The argument set out for readers rather than for delegations.

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Christiana Figueres: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Christiana Figueres's character arc?

A Costa Rican diplomatic career, an anthropology master's, fifteen years as a climate negotiator, and then the decision to take over a process in the year after it had collapsed in public, which ended in the Paris Agreement.

What did Christiana Figueres do at the United Nations?

She was Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010 to 2016, and led the negotiations that produced the Paris Agreement in December 2015, which united a hundred and ninety five nations.

Why is Christiana Figueres associated with Paris?

Because she ran the process that produced the Paris Agreement of December 2015. She had taken the post in 2010, in the year after the previous round of talks had ended in a failure most people considered final.

What is Global Optimism by Christiana Figueres?

The organisation she founded in 2016, after leaving the United Nations post. She also sits on the boards of several other organisations and has held honorary doctorates from Yale and Georgetown among others.

What is The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres?

Her book of 2020, written with Tom Rivett-Carnac, which sets out the argument for readers rather than for delegations. It followed four years after she left the United Nations post.

Where did Christiana Figueres study?

Swarthmore College, where she took her first degree in 1979, the London School of Economics, where she took a master's in social anthropology in 1981, and Georgetown University for a further certificate.

What honours has Christiana Figueres received?

The Dan David Prize in 2019, a place on Time's hundred most influential leaders in 2016, an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2022, and honorary doctorates from several universities.

Where does this timeline of Christiana Figueres's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Christiana Figueres isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Christiana Figueres, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Executive Secretary 2010 to 2016.
Publisher records for The Future We Choose, 2020.