Landing the Paris climate agreement: how it happened, why it matters, and what comes next

The Inaugural Annual Pete Betts Memorial Lecture

Lecturer: Todd Stern, former lead climate negotiator for the United States

Chair and discussant: Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science

Moderator: Kate Hughes, Chief Executive, Resilient Water Accelerator at WaterAid

Co-hosted by the Grantham Research Institute and the World Resources Institute

Pete Betts was a distinguished British civil servant who gained global recognition for his leading role in the international climate negotiations, including a central contribution to the 2015 Paris Agreement. Pete died in 2023 and is the author of a book to be published later this year describing his experiences of working over several decades on the climate crisis. 

A group of his friends and former colleagues have come together to initiate an annual lecture series in his memory, attended by his wife Fiona Macgregor (who will also speak at the event). One of Pete’s great gifts was to make his colleagues and interlocutors communicate about and approach problems differently, in a spirit of open and frank dialogue. Pete valued talking to a wide range of different people to understand their perspectives on the issues; and the trust, empathy and integrity of his approach to the negotiations led to huge respect and affection from colleagues around the world. 

We hope to bring this spirit of enquiry and dialogue into the lecture. Todd Stern, the former lead climate negotiator for the United States, will speak about his forthcoming book on the Paris climate negotiations: ‘Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How it Happened, Why it Matters, and What Comes Next’. Kate Hughes – a former colleague of Pete’s – will then moderate a discussion between Todd Stern and Lord Nicholas Stern, which will include Q&A from the audience. 

If you have any more questions, or want to be in touch, please write to Ed Davey: ed.davey@wri.org

How to attend

To attend this event please register in advance here