The Climate Diplomat

This free event marks the official launch of the new book, “The Climate Diplomat,” by Pete Betts. The book is a unique insider account of the climate negotiations that have shaped and continue to shape the future of our planet, but it is also a fascinating and important book on geopolitics and how the big players like the US, the EU and China negotiate with one another. Drawing on over three decades of experience of the UK and EU’s lead climate negotiator, it paints a warts-and-all picture of how world leaders and diplomats tackle these discussions, providing a ringside seat at pivotal moments, such as the run-up to Copenhagen (COP15), the Cartagena Dialogue, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21) and as advisor to the UK government on COP26 in Glasgow in 2021.

Pete Betts died of brain cancer in October 2023. This event will be chaired by Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, and will bring together senior politicians and policymakers who worked with Pete during his career to discuss the book’s main themes. Pete was the Director of International Climate Change at the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2008 to 2018, with overall responsibility for UK strategy on international climate policy and Lead Negotiator for the EU for six years, including at COP21 in Paris in 2015. After leaving the Civil Service in 2018, he held a number of roles in the public, private and international sector – as senior advisor to the Climate Change Committee, the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy, Kaya Advisory and Willis Towers Watson, among others. He was also a Visiting Professor at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Pete was appointed CBE in 2010 and CB in 2020.

The Climate Diplomat will be published on 28 August and can be pre-ordered here.

How to attend

To attend this event please register in advance here.