Landing the Paris Climate Agreement

Included in the Financial Times’s Best Books of 2024: Environment


“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

“An admirably readable insight into the byzantine world of climate negotiations.”
—The Financial Times

“This elegantly written volume recounts the seven years during which Stern led the U.S. team involved in climate diplomacy under the Obama administration. The effort culminated in the Paris agreement on climate change, reached in the last days of 2015. Unlike many other diplomatic histories, Stern’s account does not get bogged down in dry expositions about proposals and memos. Details and the big picture are finely balanced throughout. The personalities of the key players come alive. Stern offers a revisionist view of the “bitter, turbulent, acrimonious” UN climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009, arguing that it was not the failure that many at the time considered it to be but rather the turning point away from a framework that was not working toward one that might. The account of the painstaking American effort to find common ground with China, led by a deeply committed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, is worthwhile reading even for those whose primary interest is U.S.-Chinese relations rather than climate. The volume will be of equal interest to those who are new to the ongoing quest to contain this existential threat and to veteran observers of the ups and downs of climate diplomacy.”
—Foreign Affairs

“Stern’s book is a remarkable achievement for being both an entertaining story of how diplomacy actually works and a scholarly tome that embodies the highest standards of scholarship. Stern does not exaggerate the stakes of the struggle to address climate change but calmly recounts how diplomats integrated the geological threats from climate change (which make international action necessary) with political challenges (which make international action difficult). An important book.”
—Choice

“By the end of the book, the reader is left with the feeling that climate negotiation is a hell of a difficult job; the understanding that the job is vital to our planet’s future; and enormous gratitude that we have people like Stern to do it.”
—Earth.org

“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

“A crash course in the intricacies of multinational climate change policy.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Stern (a fellow at the Brookings Institute and the Asia Society) served as President Obama’s chief negotiator on climate change, and his connections and negotiating skills are impressive. His book provides a painstakingly detailed account of the international meetings, accords, and negotiations that led to the Paris Climate Agreement. It was 2015 when the U.S., along with 200 other countries committed to it; 2020 when the U.S. officially withdrew from it; and 2021 when the U.S. rejoined the pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming. This history includes arguments about transparency and definitions of mandates, enforcement, and treaties. Stern describes how every country came to the table with a different agenda and a different goal, which was expected to create epic levels of tension.”
—Library Journal

“Stern has written an indispensable history of the genesis, the whys, and the wherefores of the Paris agreement, indispensable both to supporters and critics and therefore for members of the incoming Trump administration as they consider, for a second time, future American participation in the agreement.”
—RealClearEnergy.com

“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

“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