Episode 4 : Christiana Figueres & Mary Robinson: A Stubborn Optimist & A Prisoner of Hope On Climate Action
October 19, 2021 | [wpv-post-taxonomy-iterator taxonomy="season" field="views|shortcode|single|wpv-taxonomy-title"][wpv-taxonomy-title][/wpv-post-taxonomy-iterator] | 57:47
When the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen collapsed, devastating diplomats, scientists and activists concerned about the health of the planet, the glass appeared nine-tenths empty. Together with many others, these two women worked tirelessly and brilliantly—against frighteningly low odds—to get 196 UN Member States to unanimously sign the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), listen to their story.
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Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, attended that disappointing climate conference in Denmark. She lamented how technical it was, and how it lacked humanity. She still recalls how the traumatized attendees felt like Copenhagen “survivors.”
Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat, also attended the ill-fated Copenhagen conference. The UN would later place her in charge of the UNFCCC, the agency that oversees the conference. But with the ravages of climate change worsening and the political will nonexistent, the pressure was on. The 2015 climate conference—COP 21 in Paris—seemed as doomed as Denmark.
In this episode of 10xBolder, you will hear how working together behind the scenes for five and half years, Christiana and Mary were able to cajole, pressure, negotiate, and otherwise lay the groundwork for the landmark Paris Agreement, perhaps the greatest demonstration of radical collaboration of our time. The agreement was signed unanimously by 196 UN Member States, which set in motion the largest effort to safeguard humanity’s future.
MORE RESOURCES
TED Talk: The Inside Story on the Paris Climate Agreement
Climate Just Collective: Women Leading the Climate Movement
International Science Council: Project Syndicate Talks with Mary Robinson on Climate Change and Her New Podcast
GUESTS
Christiana Figueres
Mary Robinson
Episode 4: Christiana Figueres & Mary Robinson: A Stubborn Optimist & A Prisoner of Hope On Climate Action
October 19, 2021 | Season 1 | 57:47
When the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen collapsed, devastating diplomats, scientists and activists concerned about the health of the planet, the glass appeared nine-tenths empty. Together with many others, these two women worked tirelessly and brilliantly—against frighteningly low odds—to get 196 UN Member States to unanimously sign the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), listen to their story.
Read More
Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, attended that disappointing climate conference in Denmark. She lamented how technical it was, and how it lacked humanity. She still recalls how the traumatized attendees felt like Copenhagen “survivors.”
Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat, also attended the ill-fated Copenhagen conference. The UN would later place her in charge of the UNFCCC, the agency that oversees the conference. But with the ravages of climate change worsening and the political will nonexistent, the pressure was on. The 2015 climate conference—COP 21 in Paris—seemed as doomed as Denmark.
In this episode of 10xBolder, you will hear how working together behind the scenes for five and half years, Christiana and Mary were able to cajole, pressure, negotiate, and otherwise lay the groundwork for the landmark Paris Agreement, perhaps the greatest demonstration of radical collaboration of our time. The agreement was signed unanimously by 196 UN Member States, which set in motion the largest effort to safeguard humanity’s future.
MORE RESOURCES
TED Talk: The Inside Story on the Paris Climate Agreement
Climate Just Collective: Women Leading the Climate Movement
International Science Council: Project Syndicate Talks with Mary Robinson on Climate Change and Her New Podcast
GUESTS
Christiana Figueres
Mary Robinson