The University of Michigan welcomes José María Figueres as this year’s Wege Lecture Series* speaker.

In 1994 he was elected President of Costa Rica and was the nation’s youngest elected president of the 20th century. After he left the presidency of Costa Rica in 1998, Figueres has been involved in global issues such as climate change, sustainable development, and technology. In 2000, Figueres joined the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, and later he worked with Concordia 21 in Madrid. Since 2010, he has been Chairman of the Carbon War Room, an independent non-profit organization focused on the global transition to a low-carbon economy. And in 2012, he was appointed as the new President of the Carbon War Room.

*The Center for Sustainable Systems at the School of Natural Resources and Environment annually invites an internationally recognized leader to deliver the Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability. It addresses important sustainability challenges facing society such as energy security, global climate change, ecosystem degradation and sustainable development strategies - with a focus on improving the systems for meeting human needs in developed and developing countries.