A collection of personal stories from global climate leaders exploring how mindfulness and compassion can transform burnout and despair into renewed purpose and collective action.
How do we keep caring for the planet without losing ourselves in the process?
We have breached seven of the nine planetary boundaries. The people working hardest to change that-scientists, organizers, funders, policymakers, artists, and activists-are often working under enormous pressure. Burnout, grief, and moral exhaustion have become familiar parts of doing climate and nature work.
The Courage to Continue brings together the experiences of climate leaders who courageously stepped away from the front lines long enough to see for themselves the deep connection between inner and outer transformation. At retreats hosted by Global Optimism and the monastics of Plum Village, in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, they practiced mindful breathing, deep listening, and collective presence, returning to their work with a different understanding of what it means to sustain themselves while working for change.
Honest and deeply personal, these are stories of discovery and renewal in the midst of planetary crisis. And as our global predicament worsens and conventional solutions prove inadequate, The Courage to Continue offers an unexpected way forward: by slowing down, coming together, and tending to our collective grief, we can develop the clarity and fierce compassion needed to meet this critical moment.
Autorentext
Christiana Figueres (editor) is a Costa Rican citizen and an internationally recognized leader on climate change. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016.
During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C, in order to protect the most vulnerable. For this achievement Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy and received multiple awards.
Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to accelerate the global response to climate change. Today she is the co-founder of Global Optimism, co-host of the podcast Outrage + Optimism and is the co-author of The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimists' Guide to the Climate Crisis.
Es Devlin is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media.
In 2022, Devlin's work on the Super Bowl Halftime Show, featuring Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem, earned her three Emmy Awards, including one for Best Production Design. That same year, her scenic design for Adele's performance at Griffith Observatory won five additional Emmy Awards. Her scenic design for The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes, won her the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design.