image: Cover art to "Landing the Paris Climate Agreement" by Todd Stern.
Credit: The MIT Press, Copyright 2024.
Landing the Paris Climate Agreement
How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next
Todd Stern
From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here.
“As Secretary of State, I needed an indefatigable diplomat to cajole nations to the table on climate change, and Todd Stern was that diplomat. His story shows us that we can make progress in solving our biggest global challenges. A must-read.”
—Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State
“A page-turning tale about the herculean international effort required to negotiate the kind of agreement built for, and essential to, confronting climate change...Obama once framed the Paris Agreement as representing "the best chance we have to save the one planet we've got:' This book allows the reader to better appreciate all that was done to achieve that singular goal as well as the enormity of work that remains.”
—Science
For immediate release
The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time. In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement, Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself.
With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat.
A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home.
About the author: Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator.
Reviews & Endorsements
"A crash course in the intricacies of multinational climate change policy." —Kirkus Reviews
"US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern's insightful environmental history Landing the Paris Climate Agreement covers how the groundbreaking global pact came to be, explains its significance, and outlines the next steps...A legacy project, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is an incisive history text covering one instance of world leaders coming together to combat climate change." —ForeWord Reviews
“Todd Stern brings all the integrity, intelligence, and passion he provided in the climate negotiations to this riveting, thought-provoking account. A must-read for anyone concerned about facing down humanity's greatest threat.” —Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
“This is a deeply informed account of the long, turbulent voyage to the Paris Climate Agreement by a key navigator. An engagingly written history that illuminates the unfinished tasks ahead.” —Jairam Ramesh, Indian Member of Parliament, former Minister of Environment and author
“This landmark work is profoundly important for what it teaches about climate policy and how international agreements actually happen.” —Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary and National Economic Adviser
“A gripping tale of how ingenious diplomats used skill, guts, and vision to help save the planet. A classic by an insider who saw it all.” —Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor and former Dean at Yale Law School and former US State Department Legal Adviser
“A remarkable, firsthand, and thoroughly entertaining treatment of the diplomacy leading from Copenhagen to the Paris Agreement. A must-read for historians, policymakers, and anyone who cares about climate change.” —Michael Froman, President, Council on Foreign Relations and Former US Deputy National Security Adviser
“A masterpiece and resounding reminder that serious diplomacy can deliver even the impossible.”—Ambassador Seyni Nafo, former African Group Spokesperson and Chairperson
“A living, breathing account of the people, events, challenges, and ingenuity that brought 195 countries together to produce the Paris climate agreement.” —Gina McCarthy, former US EPA Administrator and White House National Climate Adviser