All Episodes

March 19, 2023 48 mins

Hello! Every day, remarkable acts of diplomacy are happening around the world to bring us one step closer to cooperation on our biggest conflicts and challenges. But how much do we really know about what goes on behind closed doors? And what are the ingredients of a successful negotiation? We speak to climate diplomacy legend and friend of the pod, Christiana Figueres, about her leadership on one of the most extraordinary diplomatic feats: the 2015 Paris Agreement. Gabrielle Rifkind, a specialist in conflict resolution, tells us about the importance of finding the ‘human face’ of conflict. Finally, the EU’s former top diplomat Catherine Ashton talks to us about the highs and lows of her time on the job, and why all of us are diplomats without even knowing it.


Plus: We’ve talked sandwiches, we’ve talked toasters. Have a guess at which gadget has Ed bought for himself this week...


Guests

Christiana Figueres, co-founder of Global Optimism and former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC 2010-2016 (@CFigueres / @OutrageOptimism


Gabrielle Rifkind, Specialist in conflict resolution and Director of the Oxford Process (@OxfordProcess)


Catherine Ashton, Former High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and author of And then what? Inside stories of 21st century diplomacy 


More information

Buy a copy of Catherine's book

Listen to Outrage and Optimism, Christiana and Tom Rivett-Carnac's podcast

Learn more about the Oxford Process

'We need to rethink how we do diplomacy,' Guardian Article, Catherine Ashton

Learn more about the Paris Agreement, the legally binding treaty on climate change


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.