Skip to Content

Global Climate Defender Christiana Figueres on Creating Optimism for the Future

an arid landscape

Global climate defender Christiana Figueres outlines ways to inject optimism into our days, followed by methods to reconnect in the workplace while holding on to the lessons we’ve learned during the pandemic.

Welcome to another edition of B-Well, a 30-minute webinar series, highlighting tips, resources, and coping skills from leading wellbeing experts to support you and your families. Prior episodes featured renowned Buddhist meditation practitioner and author Jack Kornfield, award-winning comedian Trevor Noah, and CEO whisperer Jerry Colonna.

Here, we have Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a founding partner of Global Optimism and co-author of “The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis.”

“We can find many beautiful things happening right now,” says Christiana Figueres. “And find many things within ourselves to help us become the best human beings we can be.”

While everyone stays home during the COVID-19 crisis, one thing we see, Figueres says, is while we’re wholly separated, we’ve never been more together. We connect with coworkers, friends, and loved ones more. We take time to care for each other and check in on one another. This is something she hopes will continue once we get back to some semblance of normalcy in our personal and professional lives.

“Honestly, if there is a huge silver lining it is perhaps we’ll be better human beings with each other,” Figueres hopes. “We’re seeing that now but can we remember?”

In the video below, Figueres outlines three ways to inject optimism into our days, followed by three methods to reconnect in the workplace while holding on to the lessons we’ve learned during the pandemic. She also talks about the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.

“Corporate Culture is going to be more important than ever before,” she says. “How we communicate, work, and collaborate with each other is going to be so much more important. We’re going to be much more mindful of the impact we have on each other.”

For more from Figueres, watch the video in full below:

The B-Well series is part of a larger Leading Through Change initiative, providing thought leadership, tips, and resources to help business leaders manage through crises. Check out some of our most recent articles:

Ari Bendersky Contributing Editor

Ari Bendersky is a Chicago-based lifestyle journalist who has contributed to a number of leading publications including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal magazine, Men's Journal, RollingStone.com and many more. He has written for brands as wide-ranging as Ace Hardware to Grassroots Cannabis and is a lead contributor to the Salesforce 360 Blog. He is also the co-host of the Overserved podcast, featuring long-form conversations with food and beverage personalities.

More by Ari

Get the latest articles in your inbox.