Christiana Figueres and the Paris Climate Negotiations: Figueres the Negotiator (C)

This three-part, stop action case study, structured for classroom discussion, centers on Harvard’s Program on Negotiation 2022 Great Negotiator, Christiana Figueres, and her efforts as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to build momentum for, and ultimately achieve near-unanimity in favor of, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

As UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres was tasked with a seemingly insurmountable challenge of putting together an impactful, global climate agreement. Coming out of the dramatic failure of the Copenhagen summit five years before, many believed that such an agreement was not possible. However, with persistent optimism and careful, targeted interventions, in 2015 the Paris Agreement was adopted by the 196 participating nations and set forth a new global consensus framework for international climate action that was anything but a “least common denominator” agreement.

Figueres had to personally undergo a transformation to let go of her identity as a Costa Rican diplomat so she could approach the negotiations from a global perspective and meet each participating nation from their perspective. The negotiation process itself was not just the two-week conference in Paris but instead was a years-long series of actions “away from the table" taken by Figueres and others years before the Paris talks to enhance the probability of a successful outcome at the negotiating table. By bringing different coalitions of countries and non-state actors together to lead the way, a more expansive agreement became possible. Here are the stop-action “negotiation challenges" for classroom discussion:

Negotiation Challenge #1: Given the controversy surrounding the “consensus” decision-making process in Cancun and prior Conferences of the Parties (“COPS”), how should Figueres handle this issue in Paris?

Negotiation Challenge #2: How could Figueres create a “fourth concentric circle of mobilization” that would involve stakeholders who were historically considered outsiders into the process, including non-state actors, so that they could influence the trajectory of the negotiations?

Negotiation Challenge #3: How could Christiana Figueres get the Saudis, who had been staunch opponents of a climate deal, to change their minds and support a meaningful agreement in Paris?

Negotiation Challenge #4: How should Figueres handle the traditional timing of the visits of heads of state to the Paris COP?