Program

Craig Ebert serves as the President of the Climate Action Reserve where he is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s activities meet the highest standards for quality, transparency and environmental integrity. He oversees the organization’s continued leadership and commitment to ensuring offsets are a trusted and powerful economic tool for reducing emissions. In his role, he also leads the organization in identifying and entering into other opportunities that build upon the its knowledge and expertise and further its work under its mission and vision.

During his career, he has helped create the foundations for international, national and state policies to address climate change. He supported U.S. negotiations on international climate change agreements, including negotiations leading up to the creation and signing of the Kyoto Protocol, and helped develop the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) provisions under the protocol. Craig’s work also involved pioneering efforts on carbon accounting principles and methodologies. He served as the technical director of Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, which was adopted by the IPCC as its GHG Inventory Programme, and was a key architect behind the development of the official U.S. national GHG inventory to meet commitments under the UNFCCC.

Prior to joining the Reserve, Craig advised the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and served at ICF for nearly 34 years.

On 18 May 2016, the United Nations Secretary-General appointed Patricia Espinosa Cantellano of Mexico as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The appointment has been made after consultation with the Conference of Parties through its Bureau.

She succeeds Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica to whom the Secretary-General expressed his sincere gratitude for her invaluable support and dedication in restoring confidence in the international climate negotiations, successfully catalysing cooperation among Governments and all sectors of society in bringing forward commitments and climate action plans, supported by a modernized climate secretariat.

Playing a pivotal role, her leadership and personal commitment contributed in supporting the Secretary-General, the United Nations System and Parties to the Framework Convention in securing the historic and universal United Nations climate agreement in Paris in 2015.

Ms. Espinosa brings to her new appointment more than 30 years of experience at the highest levels in international relations, with a specialization in climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and protection of human rights. Currently serving as Ambassador to Germany (since 2013 and from 2001 to 2002), she was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2012.

As Mexico’s representative in multilateral bodies and international organizations in Vienna, Geneva and New York, Ms. Espinosa has been engaged as a leader in the global challenge to address climate change and its consequences, notably as Chair of the sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change leading to the adoption of the Cancun Agreements. Named by the Secretary-General to the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, she is a tireless supporter of multilateralism as a way to improve conditions for development in all regions of the world, understanding the inextricable link between the aims of the Paris climate agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Previously Ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and United Nations Organizations in Vienna (2002-2006), she was Chief of Staff to the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1989-1991) and responsible for economic issues at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations in Geneva (1982-1988).

Born in 1958, Ms. Espinosa did her postgraduate studies in international law at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales in Geneva and holds a degree in international relations from El Colegio de Mexico.

Environmental Defense Fund president Fred Krupp has guided EDF for three decades, overseeing its growth from a small nonprofit to one of the world’s most influential environmental organizations, with more than 750 employees in the United States, China, Mexico and Europe and an annual budget of more than $200 million.

As a leading voice on climate change, energy and corporate sustainability, Krupp appeared on the TED stage in 2018 to announce plans to launch MethaneSAT, a satellite that will measure and map planet-warming methane emissions from the oil and gas industry worldwide. In 2016, he played a role in the adoption of the first major bipartisan environmental legislation in two decades, the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, by a House vote of 203-12 and a voice vote in the Senate.

Krupp has pioneered innovative approaches to harnessing the power of the marketplace to protect the environment and has led EDF’s groundbreaking corporate partnerships with FedEx, KKR, McDonald’s, Walmart and others. Most recently, he helped GM develop its plan to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

Educated at Yale and the University of Michigan Law School, Krupp appears frequently in the media. He was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report and is a recipient of the 2015 William K. Reilly Environmental Leadership Award from the Center for Environmental Policy at American University. Krupp is co-author with Miriam Horn of the New York Times bestseller Earth: The Sequel – The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming.

Eduardo has more than 15 years of experience in international and national carbon pricing instruments and policy. He has focused on the development of greenhouse gas emission reduction projects and has designed climate change projects in several countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa in the following sectors: renewable energy, forestry, energy efficiency, oil and gas, aluminum, mining, landfills, agriculture, refrigerants, fertilizers, cement and construction.

He is currently the CEO of MÉXICO2, a Mexican Stock Exchange company, where he oversees the development of environmental markets such as carbon and green bonds markets. He has participated in the creation of a secondary market of Clean Energy Certificates (CEL) which supports the Mexican Wholesale Electricity Market.

He led the development of the simulation exercise of a Mexican Emissions Trading System as a preparation for the regulated emissions scheme in the country. The exercise was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and counted with the participation of more than 120 companies. He has been a speaker at several conferences and events related to climate change and climate finance. He is member of the Working Group on Green Finance of the United Nations Initiative for Sustainable Stock Exchanges.

Eduardo has several specializations in the development of emission trading systems organized by the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), organization in which he is instructor on carbon markets in Latin America. On these specializations Eduardo has paid special attention to the role of stakeholders from the electricity market due to its importance in emissions trading.

Katie serves as Managing Director of IETA, the global multi-sector business voice for the intersection of markets and climate change. On behalf of IETA’s 150+ corporate members, Katie leads efforts to inform market solutions to address environmental challenges across the Americas and globally. Katie sits on the Global Steering Committee for the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), Boards of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and the International Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) Knowledge Centre, and numerous Advisory Panels including for Canada’s Institute for Clean Growth & Climate Change and the Ivey Foundation. In 2019, Katie was recognized as a Clean16 and Clean50 award recipient for contributing to Clean Capitalism Leadership in Canada.

Judy Meltzer is the Director General of the Carbon Markets Bureau at Environment and Climate Change Canada. She leads the Department’s work on carbon pricing, GHG offsets and clean fuels. She joined the Department in 2009. Her past experience includes work in the non-profit sector and the International Development Research Center. Judy holds a Masters in International Affairs and a PhD in Political Science.

Randy Lack has been a successful entrepreneur within the environmental commodity and alternative energy industries for over two decades. In 2005, he founded Element Markets, the leading developer and supplier of environmental commodities in North America, and currently serves as Co-President. Upon founding the company, Mr. Lack served as the Managing Director over the Environmental Commodity division. Under his leadership, Element Markets has been the most decorated firm in the space, including being recognized as “Emissions House of the Year” by Energy Risk an unprecedented five times (2010, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2021), in addition to being the inaugural “Environmental Products House of the Year” in 2019. Randy has also guided Element Markets in building the largest independent portfolio of renewable natural gas, including landfill gas, wastewater treatment, and anaerobic digestion sources. His extensive experience in structuring environmental commodity transactions including biogas, emissions, renewable energy, and greenhouse gas credits has eclipsed $3 billion in total transactions completed, which has led him to be recognized as one of the top executives in the environmental commodity marketplace.

Mr. Lack is an acclaimed speaker and media resource in the areas of biogas, renewable energy, greenhouse gas, and emission trading markets. He serves on several boards including Rice University’s Professional Science Master’s Program and was a founding Board Member for the Renewable Natural Gas Coalition. Randy has been recognized with the “40 Under 40” award by Houston Business Journal for his work and leadership in the community. Mr. Lack received his BBA in Business, magna cum laude, from the University of Houston.

He was born in Pachuca, Hidalgo in 1981. He is a sociologist with a Master’s degree in Comparative Public Policies for the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLASCO) Mexico, and currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Political Communication and Strategic Governance in the Graduate School of Political Management of the George Washington University, with 15 years of experience in government, legislative affairs, political parties, with a focus on legislative advisory positions, public policy management/analysis.

Professional Experience

2013. Specialized Prosecution for the attention of electoral crimes.

Coordinator of fiscal Code Advisors and Director of Criminal Policy.

2015. Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development.

General Director of the Social Organization and Rural Housing. Coordination of the program for the Promotion of Rural Urbanization.

2017-1019. State Regime of Social Protection in Health of the State of Hidalgo.

Director of Evaluation and Monitoring, Director of Institutional Liaison and Director of Health Services Management.

July 2021 to date

He currently serves as Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources of the State of Hidalgo.

Governor David Y. Ige was sworn in as the eighth governor of the State of Hawai‘i on December 1, 2014.

Governor Ige is focused on improving the lives of Hawaiʻi’s people and making the islands a place future generations choose to call home. He is increasing affordable housing, reducing homelessness, moving toward the state’s 100% renewable energy goal, and remodeling public education to prepare students for the innovation economy of the 21st century. Under his leadership, the state has aggressively moved to ensure financial sustainability and enable future growth. He believes that we can achieve our shared goals because we have always been better together than alone.

Governor Ige was born and raised in Pearl City and is the fifth of six sons of Tokio and Tsurue Ige. He is the first governor in the United States of America of Okinawan descent. He attended public schools in Pearl City and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he met his wife, Dawn Amano-Ige.

After college, while working for GTE Hawaiian Tel, a career that spanned 18 years, Governor Ige earned a master’s of Business Administration degree in Decisions Sciences at UH Mānoa. In 1986, Hawaii Business magazine named him one of the university’s Top 10 MBA students. He went on to become a successful electrical engineer and project manager with a 34-year career devoted to information technology, telecommunications, networks, and responsible public policy.

Governor Ige began his political career in 1985 after being appointed by then Governor George Ariyoshi to fill a vacant seat in the Hawai‘i House of Representatives. In 1994, then Representative Ige was elected to the Hawai‘i Senate where he represented his home district of ‘Aiea / Pearl City until 2014.

Governor and Mrs. Ige have three children, Lauren, Amy and Matthew, who are currently pursuing their careers on the mainland.

Kelley Kizzier is Vice President for Global Climate at Environmental Defense Fund, where she leads EDF’s work to promote more ambitious and effective global climate policy and company action with a focus on multilateral climate agreements and global cooperation through carbon markets. She has extensive experience advocating for ambitious climate policy, and deep expertise in the design, performance, accounting and transparency of international carbon markets.

Prior to joining EDF, Kelley worked on European Union and international climate issues for many years as a senior official at the European Commission’s Directorate for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) in Brussels, and at the Irish Environmental Protection Agency in Dublin. Kelley was the lead markets negotiator for the EU in the climate negotiations for 15 years, negotiating issues related to international cooperation through carbon markets, transparency and accounting for the Framework Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and ultimately, the Paris Agreement. She served for three years as the UNFCCC co-chair for the UN climate negotiations under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Kelley is a Founding Sponsor Board member of the governance body for the voluntary carbon markets, whose mission is to establish a threshold standard for high-integrity carbon credits and ensure they are traded in robust, transparent and equitable markets. She is an honorary fellow at the International Emissions Trading Association and serves on the Board of Directors for Verra.

Brad Schallert is WWF’s director of carbon market governance and aviation. In this role, Brad is WWF’s lead on compliance and voluntary carbon markets and leads the organization’s efforts to create sound climate policy for the aviation sector, which is the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change.

Brad leads WWF’s efforts to ensure that carbon markets operate as an effective tool to address the climate crisis. This includes analyzing and advising companies on carbon credit purchases and communications as well as advocating for the integrity of carbon market accounting for rules that would underpin the international carbon market as envisioned by Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

WWF is a member of the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation, an observer to the UN’s civil aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO). In this role, Brad leads WWF’s work to advise on emissions offset criteria for the ICAO Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and advocates for additional policies that would help the aviation sector do its part to cut its emissions as required by science and the Paris Agreement.

Brad holds an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, as well as a BA in International and Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon. Prior to joining WWF, he worked at The Climate Group in New York where he coordinated engagement to catalyze greenhouse gas emissions reductions within Fortune 500 companies and regional governments.

Alexia Kelly has worked for more than 15 years at the intersection of public and private markets to accelerate the transition to the zero carbon economy. She currently serves as Director of Net Zero + Nature at Netflix, where she’s responsible for the company’s Science Based Target implementation, carbon credit portfolio and renewable energy purchasing strategy. She also serves as a Senior Advisor to the High Tide Foundation on the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets. Prior to joining Netflix, Alexia has held senior roles at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Change, The Packard Foundation, ENGIE Impact, the World Resources Institute, and The Climate Trust.

She serves on multiple volunteer boards, including the Energy Trust of Oregon, the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership, the Hood River Energy Council and the Energy Access Power Partnership. In her spare time she geeks out on natural building, is perfecting her kimchi recipe, and explores the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, where she resides with her husband and two children, Rowan (7) and Ila (5).

Annette L. Nazareth is a Senior Counsel of Davis Polk & Wardwell. She also currently serves as Chair of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, a new governance body established to set and enforce global standards for the voluntary carbon market. Until recently, Annette headed the Trading and Markets practice in Davis Polk’s Financial Institutions Group, which is one of the most widely recognized practices in the field. Annette is an experienced financial markets regulator, former SEC Commissioner and a recognized authority on financial markets regulatory issues. She spent much of her career advising boards of directors on corporate governance matters and corporations that were subject to regulatory and enforcement actions. She also advised domestic and international clients, including broker dealers, swap dealers, exchanges, clearinghouses and other financial institutions across a board range of complex financial regulatory and legislative matters.

Annette began her legal career as an associate at Davis Polk after graduating from Columbia Law School and rejoined the firm as a partner in 2008. She served as a Commissioner of the SEC from 2005 to 2008. Prior to her term as a Commissioner, Annette served as Director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the SEC. She has also held positions in the financial sector, including as a managing director at Smith Barney, as a senior counsel at Lehman Brothers and as a partner and general counsel of Mabon, Nugent & Co. Annette currently serves on corporate boards, including Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. and MoneyLion. She also serves on several not-for-profit boards, including Urban Institute, Watson Institute, Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation and the SEC Historical Society. She is also a member of the American Law Institute. Nazareth received an A.B. in 1978 from Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. in 1981 from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Lauren joined ClimeCo in 2018 and serves as the Director of Program Development. She leads ClimeCo’s efforts to evaluate new ideas for carbon offsets and other environmental commodities through technical, scientific, and financial feasibility. Lauren and the Program Development team work through all aspects of early project development, including quantitative carbon offset methodology drafting with major registries including the Climate Action Reserve and Verra. She has worked on projects ranging from industrial nitrous oxide abatement to nature-based solutions such as reforestation. While Lauren’s work is primarily in the voluntary carbon offset space, she also has expertise in compliance markets including California’s Cap-and-Trade and Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

Prior to joining ClimeCo, Lauren received her Master of Environmental Management in Economics and Policy at Duke University. During her time at Duke, she worked with the university’s Carbon Offsets Initiative to help Duke achieve carbon neutrality and served as an Article Editor for Duke’s Environmental Law and Policy Forum. Prior to Duke, Lauren earned her B.Sc. from McGill University in Biology in 2013 and worked at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.

Craig Ebert serves as the President of the Climate Action Reserve where he is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s activities meet the highest standards for quality, transparency and environmental integrity. He oversees the organization’s continued leadership and commitment to ensuring offsets are a trusted and powerful economic tool for reducing emissions. In his role, he also leads the organization in identifying and entering into other opportunities that build upon the its knowledge and expertise and further its work under its mission and vision.

During his career, he has helped create the foundations for international, national and state policies to address climate change. He supported U.S. negotiations on international climate change agreements, including negotiations leading up to the creation and signing of the Kyoto Protocol, and helped develop the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) provisions under the protocol. Craig’s work also involved pioneering efforts on carbon accounting principles and methodologies. He served as the technical director of Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, which was adopted by the IPCC as its GHG Inventory Programme, and was a key architect behind the development of the official U.S. national GHG inventory to meet commitments under the UNFCCC.

Prior to joining the Reserve, Craig advised the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and served at ICF for nearly 34 years.

Amy Bann is currently Head of Supply & Business Development at Xpansiv. She has served in ESG leadership roles for over two decades guiding global strategies, governance, and innovation. Recent prior roles include serving on the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets and as a sustainability director at Boeing leading climate strategy, including representing the sector to United Nations climate negotiations crafting CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting Scheme for International Aviation), as well as corporate ESG reporting, environmental policy, and commercialization of renewable energy and materials technologies. Previously, Bann worked in the public sector and nonprofits. Bann is a licensed attorney in Washington.

For Saskia there is no such thing as a problem – only solutions. With a Ph.D. in chemistry, her scientific mind always wants to know more. With an MBA from Presidio Graduate School, she believes in the power of business to transform our economy. And with her boundless curiosity and endless charm (while retaining a hint of British irony), she thrives on building long term partnerships with her clients. She’s not content with just delivering what they need right now, but is always looking for the solutions they need for even greater impact and value into the future.

Matt Nespeca works for Bayer Environmental Science as the head of digital business transformation, with a focus on developing new business models and new ways to create value for customers, the environment and society. Matt had previously worked as the global marketing manager for Vegetation Management, which includes segments such as industrial vegetation management, forestry and range & pasture. Before he took the global role, Matt Nespeca spent 8 years launching and managing the US Vegetation Management business for Bayer. In previous years, Matt held marketing, sales and technical service positions with Nufarm, BASF and American Cyanamid, mainly working in industrial vegetation, forestry and aquatics markets. Matt also spent 4 years working as a project manager for the South Carolina Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, where he worked on land conservation and invasive plant control projects. Matt has an MS from Virginia Tech in Forest Biology, and a BS from Auburn University in Forest Resource Management. Currently, Matt lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife and two children.

As Head of Sustainability Policy & Engagement at Indigo Ag, Max co-leads a team whose responsibilities include the development of carbon accounting methodologies, MRV for carbon projects, strategic engagement with external partners, building reputation and positioning within the carbon market, and engaging with corporate customers for sustainability solutions. In 2020 he led the development and approval of the VCS VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management and was an active member of the stakeholder working group for the CAR Soil Enrichment Protocol. Prior to joining Indigo, he was Policy Director at the Climate Action Reserve, where he spent 11 years. He is an expert and thought leader on the development and implementation of rigorous offset project protocols, developing many key policy and technical approaches that underpin the voluntary and compliance offset markets in North America. He has a Masters in corporate environmental management and eco-entrepreneurship from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a BS in Biology from Davidson College.

Amanda Hansen serves as Deputy Secretary for Climate Change at the California Natural Resources Agency. From 2013 to 2017, she was a director of the Community Reconstruction Program in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office of Storm Recovery. In 2012, Amanda served as deputy associate director for policy outreach at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She was chief of staff to the chairman of the 2010-2011 round of United Nations climate change negotiations, and a foreign affairs officer at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs from 2005 to 2009. Amanda earned her Masters of Public Policy in environmental policy from the University of Maryland, and a Bachelor’s degree in the interdisciplinary Science in Society program at Wesleyan University. She lives in El Dorado Hills, California with her husband, children, and dog where they enjoy all things outdoors.

Karen has over 25 years of experience in agricultural greenhouse gas measurement, modeling, and climate change/environmental policy development – spanning her tenure at the provincial Department of Agriculture in Alberta, then at the not-for-profit Climate Change Central, and now in the private sector. During her tenure with the province, Karen was part of the cross-governmental team that developed Alberta’s Bioenergy Policy Framework, which was approved by cabinet in 2008. This framework set the stage for Alberta’s Bioenergy Program administered by the Department of Energy. Karen also led ecosystem goods and service policy and program development, in concert with other federal, provincial, and territorial governments under Canada’s Agriculture Policy Frameworks. In her earlier years with the provincial department of agriculture, she conducted research and studies of environmental mitigation opportunities for agriculture in air, water, soil and biodiversity

Her most significant contribution while she worked in the public and not-for-profit sectors was her work at a national level, with federal-provincial and territorial governments on the Canadian National Offset Quantification Team (NOQT). Karen, through her capacity on the Team, designed the protocol development process, represented the agricultural sector in Canada, and coordinated the development of several agricultural quantification protocols. In 2007, Karen was seconded to Climate Change Central, a not-for-profit established by the Government of Alberta. There, Karen led the implementation of the necessary market processes, infrastructure, and tools needed to get the Alberta Carbon Offset Market off the ground. In that role, Karen and her Team leveraged the previous NOQT work to help build sound rules, platforms, science-based quantification protocols, tools, and infrastructure (e.g. registry) needed to facilitate the development of a Carbon Offset Market in Alberta.

Currently, Karen is President of Viresco Solutions Inc. – a network of leading advisors making sustainability real for public and private clients in the agriculture, energy, and food sectors across North America and globally. Our team of experts enables our clients to meet their environmental, social, and economic sustainability objectives by leveraging our knowledge and experience in environmental policy, markets, and economics. Viresco Solutions provides clients from across North America with support from strategy and policy development through to project implementation and Measuring, Reporting, and Verification platforms.

Karen obtained a Biological Sciences Diploma from NAIT, BSc in Plant Sciences, and MSc in Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Alberta. Karen is also a registered Professional Agrologist with the Alberta Institute of Agrology. Karen can be reached at [email protected]

Jordan Godwin is an Associate Director for Oil Price Information Service in Houston, Texas. He has covered biofuels pricing, trends and policies since 2012, originally working as a price reporter and analyst at Platts on U.S. ethanol, biodiesel and RINs markets before joining OPIS in 2016. His main areas of focus include the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), RINs, ethanol and low-carbon fuels programs at the state level in California and Oregon. He provides news coverage as well as price reporting on U.S. biofuels markets for the OPIS Biofuels team. Prior to reporting on biofuels, he served as a sports journalist for two years after receiving his Bachelor of Journalism for the University of Texas at Austin in 2010.

Bill Peters is a market analyst with the Clean Fuels Program and joined Oregon DEQ to work on that program in 2016. Prior to that, he worked at Argus Air Daily covering environmental and carbon markets across North America.

Glenn Johnston is Global Regulatory Carinata for Nuseed.

Mr. Johnston has over 30 years’ experience in the biotech/chemical global regulatory arena. He currently serves as the chair of the regulatory committee, leads ICAO CAEP ABFA Observer group and board member of the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA). Mr. Johnston has been recognized multiple times by ASTM with the “Award of Excellence” for his dedication and contributions to developing standards.

Prior to joining Nuseed, Mr. Johnston was Executive Director Regulatory Affairs for Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. where he worked on stewarding the new energy crop carinata through the international biofuels policies. Previously Mr. Johnston was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Gevo Inc. There he accelerated establishing a pathway for fuel isobutanol with US EPA policy makers. He also established ASTM specifications for new alternative jet fuel pathways (ATJ). Proceeding his tenure at Gevo Inc., Mr. Johnston was Director of Regulatory Affairs with NatureWorks, LLC, where he managed product stewardship issues and integrated his work with global influences regarding toxicology, environmental, and safety around the renewable plastic PLA. During his long‐standing career, he has gained extensive experience related to food legislation (FDA, EU, JHOSPA, KFDA, MERCOSUR, etc), chemical legislation (TSCA, EINECS, DSL, METI, KCL, and AICS), animal feed requirements (US FDA, AAFCO), and other regulatory laws that affect the biotech supply chain.

He has worked with industry groups in Japan (JHOSPA), Taiwan (EBPA), the U.S. (BPI), the European Union (IBAW) and China (BMG). He is currently a Member of ASTM D02, and has also been a Delegate of ISO TC61 and CENTC249, and a Member of ASTM D20. Mr. Johnston has participated on the board of directors of various industry trade associations and has published papers and given speeches throughout the globe.

Matt Botill is the Division Chief of the Industrial Strategies Division. The division is responsible for designing and implementing several of the state’s climate programs, including the State’s Scoping Plan, Cap-and-Trade Program, and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Mr. Botill also serves as the agency’s policy lead for natural and working lands, including their relationship to carbon neutrality.

Justin Johnson joined MMR in 2016, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience working in federal, state, and municipal government in both the United States and Australia, and the respect of both government and business colleagues around the world.

Immediately prior to joining the firm Justin was the Secretary of Administration for the State of Vermont. In addition, he has worked for Democratic and Republican Governors in Vermont as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation and Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources.

Justin served on the board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative for seven years and is a valuable and trusted source of information and advice for national and international clients seeking to navigate the regulations and policies related to carbon pricing.

Having spent three years as Chief of Staff to a member of the Australian Federal Parliament and as a senior executive at the Mornington Peninsula Shire, a large municipal government in the state of Victoria, Australia, Justin brings a valuable and knowledgeable understanding of international dynamics to our clients.

Apparently he doesn’t really understand what a hobby is because in his spare time Justin has served as a Member of the Governmental Advisory Committee to the U.S. EPA Administrator on the development of U.S. policy positions regarding implementation of the environmental Supplemental Agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement, Justin has also chaired the Barre City citizen budget committee, served as President of the White River Partnership, and as President of Washington County Farm Bureau.

In 2015 Justin was the winner of the prestigious USEPA Ira Leighton “In Service to States” Award, just the second person to receive this award.

He holds a BA (Journalism) from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Justin and his family live in Barre, VT.

Areas of expertise: California climate policy, environmental justice, cap and trade, air quality, land use & transportation policy.

Katelyn Roedner Sutter leads Environmental Defense Fund’s climate work in California, as well as regulatory and legislative initiatives on climate across the Western United States.

Katelyn’s focus is on advancing policies that establish and implement long-term greenhouse gas emission reductions and improve local air quality. Katelyn also contributes to EDF’s work on international carbon markets. Prior to joining EDF, Katelyn worked in the San Joaquin Valley with environmental justice and faith communities on local climate, air quality, and land use issues.

Jon Costantino is the Founding Principal of his own regulatory consultancy and advocacy firm—Tradesman Advisors, Inc. He has 27 years of regulatory experience both within Government and in the private sector. He was the original Climate Change Planning Manager for the California Air Resources Board and oversaw the first publication of the State’s economy-wide climate policy document—the AB 32 Scoping Plan.

Prior to founding his own firm, Jon built and managed a climate change regulatory practice for a diverse portfolio of clients at a national law firm. He also was the lead legislative analyst at CARB, where he focused on energy and transportation fuels, after a decade working as an Air Quality Engineer at one of California’s local air quality management districts.

He was also appointed to two terms by Governor Brown as a Board Member on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. The appointment allowed him to work closely with agricultural and domestic water users, and industries discharging waste, to protect and ensure water quality, within California’s Central Valley region.

During his career, Jon has gained in-depth insights about the complexities of California’s diverse set of industries, including: agriculture, construction, energy production and distribution, transportation and goods movement, consumer products and transportation fuels.

With an insider’s perspective, and decades of practical experience, he has become a sought-after source of information and opinion by both mainstream and industry-specific media as a recognized authority on climate change regulation and policy. His approach to solving problems includes working with agencies to craft solution-oriented policy and regulatory positions, and conveying them to industry through clear communications.

Rajinder Sahota was appointed as the Deputy Executive Officer for Climate Change and Research in spring of 2021. She is responsible for directing CARB’s scientific, technical, and policy teams as they develop and update the AB 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan to track progress and develop the pathways to achieve the state’s climate targets. She also oversees the economy-wide Cap-and-Trade Program, Low Carbon Fuels Standards, energy and climate policy, fuels programs, and critical research to advance action to improve public health and environmental protection. In Rajinder’s 19 year-career with CARB, she has worked on a variety of projects including analyzing data for children’s health studies, evaluating strategies and their impacts to reduce harmful diesel pollution from locomotives, developing the first comprehensive greenhouse gas reporting and verification regulation, developing the 2017 Scoping Plan Update, leading the development of the first Integrated Resource Targets under SB 350 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, and overseeing actions to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector and fuels sector. She has also served as a point of contact on CARB’s climate policies with other states, and subnational and international governments.

Rajinder served as an inaugural co-chair of the Diversity and Racial Equity (DaRE) Task Force. The position helped co-lead an internally-focused effort to evaluate and remove barriers that keep the organization from being more diverse and inclusive for all. These continuing efforts will help CARB become more and responsive and effective.

Rajinder received a B.S. and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of California, Davis.

Saharnaz is the Deputy Director of Community Investment and Planning overseeing more than 3 billion dollars of investment in infrastructure programs and community driven policy solutions. She works with local and regional governments to pilot initiatives for bridging climate and equity goals.

Saharnaz has over fifteen years of experience working in the public and private sectors on infrastructure development, climate resiliency, and community development. Before joining the SGC, she worked for the City of Thousand Oaks Sustainability Division, supporting the development of the City Municipal Sustainability Plan and Community Climate Action Plan. Saharnaz also worked with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability for more than three years, supporting local governments in combating the impact of climate change through local actions. As a consultant in the private sector, Saharnaz worked on multiple community revitalization and urban design projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities in Iran.

Saharnaz has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning with a Certificate of Sustainable Urban Infrastructure from University of Colorado Denver, a Master of Urban Design and Planning from Shahid Beheshti University, and a B.A. in Architecture from Iran University of Science and Technology.

Ashley Conrad-Saydah translates cutting-edge science and technology tools into actionable policy as founder of Sowing Change Strategies. A recognized expert in climate change, renewable energy and natural resources policy, Ashley serves on the Governing Board of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy & Homeland Security External Advisory Board. She previously worked in climate and energy policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Ashley mentors women through She Shares and serves on the Advisory Board of the UC Davis Graduate Program of Environmental Policy and Management. Throughout her career, she has worked to provide all people access to nature, education, healthy communities, and good jobs. Ashley earned her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and her master’s degree from the UC Santa Barbara, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, where she was a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow. She lives in Sacramento with her family.

Nuin-Tara Key is Deputy Director for Climate Resilience at OPR and Chair of the Technical Advisory Council for the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program. Prior to joining OPR, Nuin-Tara co-founded an international initiative on community-based climate action and has worked in the public, private, and non-profit sectors on sustainable urban and regional planning and policy, with a focus on social equity and climate change.

PJ Marshall, along with her husband Marvin, founded Restore the Earth Foundation, Inc. in 2008. PJ launched the not for profit after 40 years in the private sector as a top strategic marketing consultant for leading professional services firms such as Bechtel Corporation, Halliburton, and Fulbright & Jaworski LLP. Her prior not for profit experience was as a fundraiser, raising more than $50 million for organizations such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Houston Symphony.

Establishing Restore the Earth in response to two disasters, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the largest forestry disaster in US history, PJ and Marv pioneered an initiative to bring together the private and public sectors to begin restoration of destroyed forests. These cross-sector partnerships are at the heart of the Restore the Earth strategy and business model.

Today, Restore the Earth’s private and public partnerships lead the way in landscape scale reforestation of 1 million acres, 100,000,000 native trees, in the Mississippi River Basin, “North America’s Amazon”. This will generate over 200,000,000 mt CO2e in additional, permanent carbon emission reductions, having a major impact on climate change.

Restore the Earth F is a 501 (c)(3) not for profit with the mission to restore the Earth’s essential forest and wetland ecosystems at a landscape scale and using metrics (EcoMetrics) to measure the value and impact. Restore the Earth’s approach ensures habitat and communities are enhanced by restoration in self-sustaining systems.

Julius drives The Climate Trust’s strategy and investments to effectively deliver market-based climate solutions to our partners and demonstrate scalable approaches to combat the climate crisis. Prior to his work at The Climate Trust, Julius was the Forest Manager for the Yale Forests and a U.S. Fulbright scholar investigating climate-smart agroforestry techniques in France. Julius is a Certified Forester and holds a Master of Forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He has been with The Climate Trust since 2017.

As the Associate Director of Nature-Based Solutions, Jon helps with the development and improvement of forest protocols, technical tools, and computer applications. He also contributes to the Reserve’s efforts to develop jurisdictional accounting frameworks for GHG emissions and reductions resulting from changes in land use and management. Additionally, he provides support to the Reserve’s registry program.

Jon has been working on forest carbon offset projects and policies since 2003, providing him with a deep understanding of the forest protocol and the behind-the-scenes operations of forest carbon projects. Prior to joining the Reserve, he was a private consultant, with a focus on climate change mitigation policies and projects, as well as watershed health. Jon also previously worked at the Pacific Forest Trust, where he stewarded conservation easements and fee title lands held by the organization and performed geospatial analysis for conservation planning. He earned a Master of Environmental Management degree from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, where his focus was ecosystem management. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a Concentration in Environmental Studies from Carleton College.

Barbara Harrison is the Vice President, Offsets & Emerging, Chevron New Energies. In this role she is responsible for growing Chevron’s Offsets and Emerging businesses, turning strategy into action to deliver on Chevron’s higher returns and lower carbon ambitions.

In her prior role Barbara was the General Manager of Value Chain Optimization (VCO), International Fuels and Lubricants (IF&L) in Asia. She was responsible for strategic planning for IF&L and optimizing crude supply and products placements within Chevron’s refining and marketing systems across Asia and Australia. Prior to this she was General Manager, Planning and Change Management Office, in Corporate Strategic Planning, responsible for Chevron’s business planning process, secretary of the Management Committee and managed the Change Management Office which supports the deployment of the Strategic Imperatives across the corporation. Barbara previously held several positions of increasing responsibility across Chevron’s Downstream and Chemicals business including, Manufacturing, Strategy, VCO and Retail.

Barbara started her career at the Richmond Refinery in California as a Process Engineer in 2001. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin in Ireland.

Barbara is married with three children, two daughters and a son.

As the principal for aviation decarbonization at RMI, Andrew leads the aviation team’s work to accelerate the path to net-zero air transport by catalyzing investment and production in high-quality sustainable aviation fuel. This includes the development of a universal sustainable aviation fuel certificate book and claim system and associated standards, frameworks, and guidance.

Background
Andrew is a passionate sustainability change leader and decarbonization expert with over 15 years’ experience in net-zero carbon and sustainability strategy development, environmental impact assessment, and emissions modeling and management.

Previously, Andrew served as head of emissions strategy for Heathrow Airport where he developed and embedded climate change and air quality strategies to help position the airport as a global leader in sustainability.

In addition, Andrew has advised major global brands in aviation, food production and packaging, and motorsports on topics including net-zero target setting and the Science Based Targets initiative, supply chain decarbonization, and stakeholder engagement.

Education
MSc, Environmental Monitoring, Modeling, and Management, Kings College London
BA, Environmental Studies and Conservation Biology, Lewis & Clark College

Diana Birkett Rakow leads Alaska’s government affairs, ESG and sustainability, communications and community engagement with teams in Seattle, San Francisco, Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington D.C. Together, they work to grow Air Group’s business, employee engagement, and legacy of responsibility and corporate citizenship. She also leads Alaska’s venture arm, Alaska Star Ventures, and chairs the Board for the Alaska Airlines Foundation.

Diana joined Alaska Airlines after two decades in health care and public health at health insurance and care delivery organizations and the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. Diana served as vice president of public affairs, communications and brand management at Kaiser Permanente through its acquisition of Group Health. Prior to that, she was Group Health’s executive vice president of public affairs and marketing and president of the Group Health Foundation.

Diana holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and master’s degrees in public administration and public health from the University of Washington. She is on the Boards of the Seattle Metro Chamber, Pacific Science Center, Bay Area Council, and Philanthropy Northwest.

Location: New York City, NY USA

Expertise: Climate Strategy, International Policy, Environmental Policy

An expert in carbon markets, Kim left the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) in 2011 to join the State Department, eventually becoming the US Chief Negotiator on climate change. She led the teams that designed and negotiated the Paris Agreement as well as major climate deals for international aviation and shipping.

Brad Schallert is WWF’s director of carbon market governance and aviation. In this role, Brad is WWF’s lead on compliance and voluntary carbon markets and leads the organization’s efforts to create sound climate policy for the aviation sector, which is the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change.

Brad leads WWF’s efforts to ensure that carbon markets operate as an effective tool to address the climate crisis. This includes analyzing and advising companies on carbon credit purchases and communications as well as advocating for the integrity of carbon market accounting for rules that would underpin the international carbon market as envisioned by Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

WWF is a member of the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation, an observer to the UN’s civil aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO). In this role, Brad leads WWF’s work to advise on emissions offset criteria for the ICAO Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and advocates for additional policies that would help the aviation sector do its part to cut its emissions as required by science and the Paris Agreement.

Brad holds an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, as well as a BA in International and Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon. Prior to joining WWF, he worked at The Climate Group in New York where he coordinated engagement to catalyze greenhouse gas emissions reductions within Fortune 500 companies and regional governments.

Emily Wimberger is a Climate Economist with Rhodium Group’s Energy & Climate practice.
Emily analyzes the economic impact of climate change and policy responses, with an emphasis on the transportation sector. She also provides policy outreach and support to the Climate Impact Lab, focusing on the application of the social cost of carbon.

Prior to Rhodium, Emily served as the Chief Economist for the California Air Resources Board where she analyzed the economic impact of California’s portfolio of climate change and air quality policies and programs with a focus on carbon markets and transportation. Emily has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, and received her Bachelor’s degree from Penn State.

Aimee has over 15 years’ experience in climate, energy and sustainability, spanning the state, federal and international levels, and the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She currently runs Hua Nani Partners, a consulting practice that helps seed new ideas for next generation climate and energy solutions. She also serves as senior advisor to former Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. at the California-China Climate Institute, which was established to spur climate action and dialogue between California and China.

Aimee was recently appointed to the Boards of Gridworks and the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society at Dartmouth and became a non-resident fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. In addition, Aimee launched Powerwomen – a database of leading women in climate change and energy.

Previously, Aimee served as Senior Advisor to California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., where she helped launch the US Climate Alliance, led the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit, and was responsible for Executive Order B-55-18, committing California to carbon neutrality by 2045.

Prior to that, Aimee served as Deputy Secretary for Border and Intergovernmental Relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency, where she led the state’s partnerships with other jurisdictions, including China, Mexico, Japan, and the Netherlands. In the lead up to COP21, she helped launch the Under2 Coalition, a group of 200+ subnational governments committed to climate action. Before that, Aimee was a partner at Allotrope Partners, where she worked on clean energy projects and innovative climate finance in emerging markets.

Earlier in her career, Aimee worked for the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), helping launch their Directorate for Energy and Climate Change in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to that, Aimee worked as an advisor to the UK Government in the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) Strategy Directorate, and as senior manager of US regulatory affairs for the global offset project developer EcoSecurities.

Aimee began her career at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in San Francisco. She has an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and a BA from Dartmouth College in Environmental Studies. She serves in advisory and board roles for Elemental Excelerator – a cleantech accelerator; and Independent Diplomat – an international nonprofit diplomatic advisory group. She is a Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations, and was the 2018 recipient of the Government Leadership Award for DOE’s C3E Women’s Initiative.

Aimee’s political experience includes working on Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, helping to draft her “Climate Plan for the People,” and on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, where she led the Bay Area Idealists4Hillary group.

In 2018, Aimee was diagnosed with breast cancer the day before the birth of her second child. After a year of successful treatment for the disease, she co-founded a non-profit called Operation Ohana, which supports young parents that are facing cancer while caring for small children. She also recorded a children’s album, Rainbow Connection, the proceeds from which go to supporting Operation Ohana’s work.

Aimee lives on the windward side of Oahu with her husband and two children.

Rick is globally recognized as a leading climate change lawyer, and for two decades has advised governments, multinational companies, financial institutions, funds and project sponsors on the economic transition to a low carbon economy, including being a thought leader on carbon and environmental market transactions. He is officially recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers Global as a leading climate change lawyer, an accolade he has held for 10 years. He is a former Partner and head of Baker McKenzie’s North American Climate Change Practice; and former Chair, International Emissions Trading Association. He serves on the Board of Advisors to the USC Schwarzenegger Institute and was Awarded Chevalier of the National Order of Merit by the President of the Republic of France for his significant contribution to the preparation of the Paris Climate Summit, and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Michael Green is a Partner at Carbon Capital Advisors, a Boston and Tokyo based firm focused on technology supported clean cooking and nature based solution projects. Michael also serves as the Director for the Solutions for Climate Partnership, a coalition of governments working together to enable Article 6 pilot projects and a network of regional carbon clubs.

From 2012-2021, Michael was the Executive Director of Climate XChange, one of the leading US state policy think tanks focused on carbon market design and state decarbonization strategy. Under Michael’s leadership, CXC grew to over 20,000 members and was responsible for state based initiatives being introduced across the country. In 2016, Michael was presented the Champion of Change Award by President Obama for his commitment to climate change as an equity issue at the White House.

Michael currently serves on several nonprofit boards including the Carbon Business Council, World Boston, Climate and Energy Working Group Chair for the American Sustainable Business Council and Chairs the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Council Advisory Board. His passion for protecting our climate stems from his adoration of the great outdoors. Outside of the office, he can often be found roaming the nearest mountains on his bicycle, skis or in his hiking boots. He lives in Woodstock, Vermont with his wife and young son.

Neil is an innovator in sustainable finance who was instrumental in developing early markets for carbon and renewable energy. Neil joined Chia to deliver on the best intentions of blockchain, sustainable growth and inclusive prosperity. At Chia, Neil has partnered with the World Bank and Costa Rica to build decentralized climate finance infrastructure that can serve as a bridge to a more equitable global economy.

Neil started his career in 1988 trading commodities at Glencore. Inspired by the Kyoto Protocol, Neil co-founded the environmental finance desk at Natsource, a pioneer of the carbon and renewable trade industry. Neil advised the Obama presidential transition on environmental justice and established Macquarie Bank’s environmental finance team in the Americas. Neil has developed ventures focused on circular economy including the production of ammonia from methane previously flared at North Dakota fracking sites and producing renewable biofuels from sugarcane “field trash” that had previously been burnt in the fields.

Neil was recently selected by Global Blockchain Business Council as their Ambassador of Environment and Sustainability.

Corinne Boone, BA, MES, CDI.D, GCB.D
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/corinneboone/

Corinne Boone has more 30 years of experience in the “business” of sustainability, focusing on climate change, carbon markets; and, environment, social and governance (ESG). She is a recognized global carbon market pioneer and has been involved in the development of much of the foundation upon which the carbon markets of today operate. Corinne is Group Head, Americas at AirCarbon Exchange (ACX), a global blockchain-based carbon market exchange.

Amy Bann is currently Head of Supply & Business Development at Xpansiv. She has served in ESG leadership roles for over two decades guiding global strategies, governance, and innovation. Recent prior roles include serving on the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets and as a sustainability director at Boeing leading climate strategy, including representing the sector to United Nations climate negotiations crafting CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting Scheme for International Aviation), as well as corporate ESG reporting, environmental policy, and commercialization of renewable energy and materials technologies. Previously, Bann worked in the public sector and nonprofits. Bann is a licensed attorney in Washington.

As Manager, Blue Carbon Innovation, Amy leads Verra’s work on blue carbon and explores opportunities for the scaling up of nature-based innovations activities, including by engaging with the Blue Carbon Working Group and Seascape Carbon Initiative. Previously, Amy served as a Senior Program Officer and Program Officer at Verra.

Phil Cruver is Founder and CEO of KZO Sea Farms. Previously, he was the Founder and CEO of Catalina Sea Ranch, the first aquaculture facility in U.S. Federal waters developed six miles offshore California. Phil was also the founder of five additional start-up companies and recently served as Principal Investigator for over $1.2 million of Federally funded R&D projects. Phil founded International Dynergy, a publicly traded company that installed $50 million of wind turbine generators in Palm Springs, California. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of Auto-Train Corporation, an American Stock Exchange Company.

Sydney Chamberlin is a Project Manager for Climate and Nature-based Solutions with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in California. Her work focuses on developing and advancing strategies that will accelerate the use of nature-based climate solutions in California. Prior to her work with TNC, Sydney worked in the California Legislature as a California Council on Science & Technology (CCST) Science Fellow, where she analyzed bills relating to natural resource management and climate change for the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Water. Sydney holds BS degrees in physics and mathematics from Utah State University, a doctorate in physics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a project management certificate from Cornell University.

Josh Bledsoe advises clients on complex infrastructure and development projects, particularly those utilizing renewable or low-carbon technologies. He has broad experience in the permitting, entitlement, environmental review, and financing of cleantech projects; and also handles related administrative and judicial challenges.

Mr. Bledsoe has deep experience with climate change law, including California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (commonly known as “AB 32”) and associated Air Resources Board regulations such as the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and the Cap-and-Trade Program. He guides clients to monetize the low-carbon attributes of their products or services under various carbon pricing and regulatory regimes. He also possesses in-depth knowledge of the California Environmental Quality Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act (and its state and local counterparts throughout California), the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and the Warren-Alquist Act (including the siting procedures of the California Energy Commission).

Mr. Bledsoe also has experience in the permitting and development of energy projects, both fossil fuel fired and renewable. He has obtained federal, state, and local approvals for such projects, crafting innovative solutions to environmental and resource problems. He also possesses extensive transactional experience, having represented buyers, sellers, and lenders in matters involving environmental liabilities related to real estate and business transactions, complicated mergers and acquisitions, and access to capital markets.

Mr. Bledsoe currently serves both on Latham’s Sustainability Steering Committee and the Advisory Council for Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy.

Mr. Bledsoe’s speaking engagements include the following:

• Latham E&I Webcast, “CCUS Investment Opportunities: Market Growth, Environmental and Tax Credits, and Permitting Considerations,” May 5, 2021
• North American Carbon World 2021 Virtual Conference, “Current State of Play With Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Future Directions,” April 22, 2021
• North American Carbon World 2021 Virtual Conference, “The Winding Road to Net Zero: A Workshop on Legal Issues Critical to Decarbonization,” April 22, 2021
• Texas Journal of Oil, Gas & Energy Law, Financing Carbon Capture Projects with Tax Credits, February 25, 2021
• Navigating the American Carbon World Conference, New LCFS Programs on the Horizon, April 25, 2019
• Navigating the American Carbon World Conference, LCFS Market Update, April 5, 2018

Patrick Couch both leads and collaborates on a wide range of projects and market development initiatives for GNA’s clients and brings extensive experience in the research, development, and demonstration of a broad range of advanced mobile and stationary power technologies to the firm, particularly zero-emission vehicle technologies for medium- and heavy-duty goods movement and the associated charging and refueling infrastructure.

From leading fleets through the evaluation of alternative fuel technologies to assisting policy makers with the development of practical and successful strategies for clean transportation, Patrick’s work includes a mix of technical, business, and policy expertise. His client list includes Fortune 100 fleets, transit agencies, municipal fleets, and a wide range of goods movement stakeholders seeking to navigate the transition from traditional to alternative fuels. He received his bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.

Tim O’Connor is a Senior Director and Senior Attorney in Environmental Defense Fund’s Energy Program where he currently leads the organization’s strategy on energy decarbonization strategy in California. Focused broadly on developing solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and buildings, Mr. O’Connor leads teams of experts to support the movement away from fossil fuels and towards optimal utilization of a decarbonized electricity system.

Since joining EDF in 2007, Mr. O’Connor has been involved at local and state agencies on the interaction of natural gas and renewable energy integration, deployment of energy storage and electric vehicles, oil and gas production and delivery, cap-and-trade and transportation fuels. During this time, Mr. O’Connor has also managed EDF’s participation in both state and federal courts on issues related to climate change, fuels and energy.

Prior to joining EDF, Mr. O’Connor was a senior compliance inspector at heavy industrial facilities, including power plants and petroleum refineries in the San Francisco bay area. He holds a Master’s Degree in Chemistry, Toxicology and Risk Assessment from Duke University and a J.D. from Golden Gate University with specializations in Environmental and Public Interest Law.

Frances Seymour is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute (WRI) where she conducts research and writing on forest and climate issues, including the role of forest carbon credits in carbon markets. In her individual capacity, she also serves as an adviser to the Climate and Land Use Alliance, chairs the board of the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions, and chairs the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum. Frances joined WRI from the Center for Global Development, where she published her 2016 book, Why Forests? Why Now? The Science, Economics, and Politics of Tropical Forests and Climate Change. From 2006 to 2012, Frances served as Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), an international organization headquartered in Indonesia. Previously, she was the founding director of the Institutions and Governance Program at WRI and served as Director of Development Assistance Policy at World Wildlife Fund. She holds an MPA in Development Studies from Princeton University, and a BS in Zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Elizabeth Sturcken leads the net zero program for EDF+Business, where she works with leading companies to drive impact and scale climate progress across industries and sectors. Elizabeth also represents EDF in the Transform to Net Zero (TONZ) Coalition as well as the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions (BASCS). She also leads partnerships with major companies including Walmart, Lyft, and Airbnb.

Stephanie Wang is Associate Director of Climate Finance Policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Stephanie has over 10 years’ experience working to advance climate finance and policy incentives, including through carbon markets, in order to support the conservation of intact forests and other high-conservation value forests. She has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and degrees in History and Asian American Studies from UCLA.

Appointed December 2020 by Governor Gavin Newsom
Term ends December 31, 2026

Liane Randolph has spent most of her career in public service, specializing in environmental law and policy, effective administration, and a commitment to transparency and public process. She was appointed Chair of the California Air Resources Board by Governor Gavin Newsom in December 2020. Starting in 2015, Randolph served six years as a Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission and managed numerous decisions on energy efficiency, integrated energy resource planning, and regulation of transportation network companies, as well as spearheading significant Commission policy reforms. Prior to the PUC, Randolph served from 2011 to 2014 as Deputy Secretary and General Counsel at the California Natural Resources Agency, where she worked on a wide variety of legal and policy issues, including work on the Klamath Dam Removal agreement, CEQA guidelines, and the Agency’s first Tribal Consultation Policy. Randolph’s first role with the State was as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission from 2003 to 2007. Her work at the state level builds on experience with local government that she gained while practicing municipal law as a contract City Attorney for the Cities of San Leandro and Suisun City. Randolph earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and lives in Oakland with her husband and family. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, running, and reading.

Lisa DeMarco is a Senior Partner and CEO at Resilient LLP, she is recognized as a Canadian and international expert in climate and energy law. She has over 25 years of experience in law, regulation, policy, and advocacy relating to all aspects of climate change and clean energy.

Lisa also assists leading financial and energy companies and Indigenous business organizations on domestic and overseas renewable power project development, energy storage projects, sustainable and climate finance transactions, carbon capture and storage, climate-related financial disclosure, corporate climate risk, environmental and social governance (ESG), green bonds, and sustainable business strategy. Lisa plays an active role for Fortune 500 companies in corporate ESG, climate change, and transition strategy, target setting and compliance. Lisa also represents several governments and leading energy companies in a wide variety of natural gas, power, pipeline and energy storage matters before the Ontario Energy Board and the National Energy Boards. She regularly attends and advises on related United Nations negotiations.

Lisa is a director of the boards of the Advanced Energy Centre at MarRS, Radicle Inc., the consultation group of The Carney Task Force on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, and is the chair of the International Emissions Trading Association.

Ms. DeMarco is ranked by Chambers Global as one of the world’s leading climate change lawyers. She is also ranked and repeatedly recommended by Legal Lexpert Directory, International Who’s Who, and Chambers Canada as a leading energy (oil, gas and electricity) and environment lawyer.

She has been an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, is a guest lecturer at a number of law schools, and presents regularly.

She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (BSc Hon. – 1990), the University of Toronto (MSc. – 1992), Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (LLB – 1995) and the Vermont Law School (MSEL, summa cum laude – 1995) and is called to the bar in England and Ontario.

Nathaniel Keohane is President of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), which is widely recognized in the United States and internationally as a leading, independent voice for practical policy and action to address the world’s energy and climate challenges.

Dr. Keohane is an economist with more than 20 years of energy and environmental policy experience in academia, government, and the non-profit sector, most recently as Senior Vice President for Climate with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where he led EDF’s research and policy advocacy on climate change in the United States and globally. In 2011-2012, Keohane served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Environment in the National Economic Council and Domestic Policy Council, helping to shape administration policy on energy and environmental issues. He previously directed economic policy and analysis at EDF, working to enact comprehensive cap-and-trade legislation in Congress.

From 2001-2008, Dr. Keohane was an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Economics at the Yale School of Management. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Yale College.

Kelley Kizzier is Vice President for Global Climate at Environmental Defense Fund, where she leads EDF’s work to promote more ambitious and effective global climate policy and company action with a focus on multilateral climate agreements and global cooperation through carbon markets. She has extensive experience advocating for ambitious climate policy, and deep expertise in the design, performance, accounting and transparency of international carbon markets.

Prior to joining EDF, Kelley worked on European Union and international climate issues for many years as a senior official at the European Commission’s Directorate for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) in Brussels, and at the Irish Environmental Protection Agency in Dublin. Kelley was the lead markets negotiator for the EU in the climate negotiations for 15 years, negotiating issues related to international cooperation through carbon markets, transparency and accounting for the Framework Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and ultimately, the Paris Agreement. She served for three years as the UNFCCC co-chair for the UN climate negotiations under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Kelley is a Founding Sponsor Board member of the governance body for the voluntary carbon markets, whose mission is to establish a threshold standard for high-integrity carbon credits and ensure they are traded in robust, transparent and equitable markets. She is an honorary fellow at the International Emissions Trading Association and serves on the Board of Directors for Verra.

David serves as Chief Executive Officer of Verra where he oversees all aspects of the organization, including ensuring the financial and operational health of the organization and that the organization’s certification programs meet high quality integrity and transparency standards. In recent years David’s focus has been to expand the scope of Verra, broadening it from an organization dedicated exclusively to certifying carbon reductions to one that also identifies and develops other standards frameworks for a sustainable world. In this vein, David works to ensure that the standards Verra identifies, develops and manages facilitate the flow of capital to enable countries, the private sector and civil society achieve and demonstrate their climate and sustainable development goals. David works closely with the Verra Board to chart the future course of the organization, and spearheads outreach to government, foundation, business and environmental leaders around the world.

A world-renowned expert on climate change, David began his work in this sector when he worked for ICF Consulting in 1994 providing technical advice to Latin American countries developing their GHG inventories and serving on the team that pioneered verification procedures for emission reduction projects. In 1999 David joined the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Mexico as its global climate change advisor overseeing the development of an energy-sector grid emission factor and baseline studies for forest protection efforts. In 2003, David joined EcoSecurities in Oxford (UK) where he led a joint venture to develop landfill gas-to-energy projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). At EcoSecurities David also spearheaded the company’s efforts in the voluntary market, helping to identify key infrastructure and procedural needs that the voluntary carbon market lacked in the early days of its existence.

David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Princeton University and a Master’s in Public Policy, with concentrations in Environmental Policy and International Development, from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Originally born and raised in Mexico City, David now resides in Bethesda, MD with his wife and two children.

Lisa DeMarco is a Senior Partner and CEO at Resilient LLP, she is recognized as a Canadian and international expert in climate and energy law. She has over 25 years of experience in law, regulation, policy, and advocacy relating to all aspects of climate change and clean energy.

Lisa also assists leading financial and energy companies and Indigenous business organizations on domestic and overseas renewable power project development, energy storage projects, sustainable and climate finance transactions, carbon capture and storage, climate-related financial disclosure, corporate climate risk, environmental and social governance (ESG), green bonds, and sustainable business strategy. Lisa plays an active role for Fortune 500 companies in corporate ESG, climate change, and transition strategy, target setting and compliance. Lisa also represents several governments and leading energy companies in a wide variety of natural gas, power, pipeline and energy storage matters before the Ontario Energy Board and the National Energy Boards. She regularly attends and advises on related United Nations negotiations.

Lisa is a director of the boards of the Advanced Energy Centre at MarRS, Radicle Inc., the consultation group of The Carney Task Force on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, and is the chair of the International Emissions Trading Association.

Ms. DeMarco is ranked by Chambers Global as one of the world’s leading climate change lawyers. She is also ranked and repeatedly recommended by Legal Lexpert Directory, International Who’s Who, and Chambers Canada as a leading energy (oil, gas and electricity) and environment lawyer.

She has been an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, is a guest lecturer at a number of law schools, and presents regularly.

She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (BSc Hon. – 1990), the University of Toronto (MSc. – 1992), Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (LLB – 1995) and the Vermont Law School (MSEL, summa cum laude – 1995) and is called to the bar in England and Ontario.

Guy is Founder and CEO of Trove Research, a specialist data and research company focused on corporate climate commitments and the voluntary carbon market. Guy has 30 years’ experience in consulting, research, start-ups and strategy. Prior to Trove, Guy led the London strategy team at EDF Renewables UK (a division of EDF with 200 staff and 1GW operating portfolio) where he oversaw work on investment appraisal, competitor analysis, M&A and PPA pricing in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, battery storage and hydrogen.

Prior to EDF Renewables Guy spent 4 years providing independent consulting in the oil & gas and clean energy sectors, working for BP Economics, the UK Green Investment Bank, Centrica, EDF Renewables and the Children’s Investment Fund. He has also been an investor and held a number of board positions in low carbon companies, including Rezatec and Enian.

In 2006 Guy helped found and build the research business, New Energy Finance, which was sold to Bloomberg in 2010 to form Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). From 2010 to 2014 he was Chief Economist and Head of Commodity Research at BNEF, responsible for global energy forecasting, investment modelling and renewable power, gas and carbon markets.

Prior to New Energy Finance, Guy spent 15 years in economic and strategy consulting working for a wide range of private and public sector clients on assignments covering renewable energy and environmental policy for governments, to market analysis, competitor benchmarking, acquisition search and due diligence support for major corporate clients.

Guy holds an MSc in Environment Technology and Policy from Manchester University, undergraduate degrees in Engineering and Economics from Birmingham University, and studied Corporate Finance at London Business School.

Luke Oliver leads the KraneShares Climate solutions business building innovative products that provide access to unique markets within this growing investment universe. In addition to curating the firms climate, carbon and impact strategies, Luke works closely with clients to educate on the asset class and client implementation strategies. He is a regular industry commentator on TV, press and online media and is responsible for digestible research on climate topics.

Prior to joining KraneShares, Luke built and ran the $21bn US XTrackers ETF business at DWS (formally Deutsche Asset Management) where he pioneered currency hedging, onshore China and more recently ESG strategies which were among the first to recognize the need for value aligned portfolios. Prior to this he was the portfolio manager of $16bn in commodity assets across the PowerShares DB Commodity ETF suite. Luke has a reputation for building strong, diverse teams, building profitable businesses and bringing innovative solutions to market. His 20 year financial career also included time on the capital markets sell-side.

This diverse experience has allowed Luke to identify the most powerful emerging trends on the investment landscape.

“Pricing carbon emissions and decarbonizing the global economy is the single greatest challenge, and opportunity, we will ever be presented with. I have no doubt this will be our mission for the next 20 years and it must not fail.”

Vilas Kuchinad is a Director in Bank of America’s Global Sustainable Finance Group (GSFG). He leads the Innovative Structuring pillar of the GSFG business. Innovative Structuring leads Bank of America’s capital deployment into new clean energy and sustainable infrastructure asset classes including: carbon markets, hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuels, waste-to-energy, water infrastructure, sustainable agriculture/aquaculture, and mobility.

Prior to Bank of America Vilas worked at Deutsche Bank in its structured finance business focused on private credit for sustainable finance, infrastructure, energy, and middle market credit. He started his career in real estate development focused on acquisitions for two national developers.

Vilas is Chair of the Ambassadors Board of DREAM. DREAM is an educational and youth development organization, serving over 2,500 children in the New York City area.

Vilas is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

David has over 20 years of leadership in environmental markets. He helped launch and is part of the management team of Inlandsis, which invests exclusively in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and the US. At Pacific Carbon Trust, David managed one of the largest carbon portfolios at that time in North America. Previously, he managed commercialization of clean technologies at DEKA R&D Corp. He has also structured conservation real estate transactions for The Nature Conservancy. Earlier, David founded and led an NGO in Africa, and managed development projects for the World Bank. He has a Master of Environmental Management from Yale and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Andrew Westgate is joining Clear Sky as Assistant General Counsel focusing on environmental markets. Prior to joining Clear Sky, Andrew worked as an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised oil and gas, power, industrial and financial institution clients on a range of environmental matters including climate change, environmental credits, carbon neutrality, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). His experience includes transactional diligence and contract negotiation, permitting, transaction structuring and environmental issues at legacy sites. Andrew also advised clients on environmental issues as part of Latham’s Greater China Practice. Prior to joining Latham, Andrew worked in Beijing as a consultant, providing strategic advice to American firms working in China, and at an environmental technology startup.

Javier I. Kinney is a Yurok Tribal citizen and currently serves as the Carbon Project Manager for the Yurok Tribe. He has attained a Bachelor of Arts Degrees in History and Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis, a Master of Arts degree in Law & Diplomacy, specializing in Development Economics and International Law from Tufts University-Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, and a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk Law School. Mr. Kinney has extensive experience advising Tribal governments with expertise in areas of mediation, negotiations, public policy, economic development, youth empowerment, land acquisition, tribal governance, grant management, protection of tribal cultural resources and strategic planning.

Kinney has been an invited to serve as a key note speaker and guest lecturer at various universities and colleges focusing on leadership, education, Nation-building, and indigenous affairs. His thought leadership, work and interests have provided him the opportunity to travel with indigenous delegations to Hungary, Venezuela, Jamaica, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico, Norway, Brazil and Canada. His commitment to global consciousness and visionary change motive him to work with indigenous communities globally and on tribal reservations through the United States. As a graduate student at the Fletcher School, Kinney was selected as a delegate to the inaugural International Achievement Summit held in Budapest, Hungary and has served as a speaker at the United Nations in conjunction with the Nexus Global Youth Summit.

Rajinder Sahota was appointed as the Deputy Executive Officer for Climate Change and Research in spring of 2021. She is responsible for directing CARB’s scientific, technical, and policy teams as they develop and update the AB 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan to track progress and develop the pathways to achieve the state’s climate targets. She also oversees the economy-wide Cap-and-Trade Program, Low Carbon Fuels Standards, energy and climate policy, fuels programs, and critical research to advance action to improve public health and environmental protection. In Rajinder’s 19 year-career with CARB, she has worked on a variety of projects including analyzing data for children’s health studies, evaluating strategies and their impacts to reduce harmful diesel pollution from locomotives, developing the first comprehensive greenhouse gas reporting and verification regulation, developing the 2017 Scoping Plan Update, leading the development of the first Integrated Resource Targets under SB 350 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, and overseeing actions to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector and fuels sector. She has also served as a point of contact on CARB’s climate policies with other states, and subnational and international governments.

Rajinder served as an inaugural co-chair of the Diversity and Racial Equity (DaRE) Task Force. The position helped co-lead an internally-focused effort to evaluate and remove barriers that keep the organization from being more diverse and inclusive for all. These continuing efforts will help CARB become more and responsive and effective.

Rajinder received a B.S. and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of California, Davis.

María Teresa Tattersfield, is currently the forest carbon Manager of WRI Mexico. Responsible for designing the largest forest carbon capture project in Mexico; develop the necessary alliances with key actors for the field projects component, as well as for monitoring and influencing public policy in Mexico, seeking co-financing, and executing the project as a whole for 5 years. The objective was to achieve 202,000 ha in total under the CAR Protocol, one year after the project began, there are already 83,000 ha working.

For the past 10 years, she has been involved in the design and development of methodologies and protocols that have been implemented in Mexico with great success in the sale of offsets in the international market; such as The Climate Action reserve Forest Carbon Protocol for Mexico (released in 2014), Carbon Capture for Cactus Opuntia (currently in validation process with CAR), The Mexican Forest Carbon Standard from de Mexican Ministry of Environment (Semarnat), among others.

Previously, she was in charge of the National Program of Natural Solutions of the Tecnológico de Monterrey University, promoting conservation programs through economic instruments, advising the Neutralízate Program of the Pronatura México organization, in the years when the voluntary forestry market in Mexico was consolidated with Pronatura pilot projects that are now the benchmarks in Latin America.

She has been part of the special team of advisers in sustainable development and climate change for the Foreign Ministry of the British Commonwealth Government, and was in charge of the relationship with the priority states on mitigation and adaptation issues, promoted the realization of the first Plans State of Climate Change, as well as political analysis and preparation of recommendations for decision making in the design of agreements and memoranda of understanding in the Mexico-United Kingdom relationship on issues such as low carbon economy.

On the other hand, she has been responsible for the elaboration of strategies that combine the efforts of local and federal governments in the development of international initiatives such as Methane to Markets. In her work at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, she coordinated initiatives such as the restoration of the Lerma Chapala Basin. She has also coordinated cooperation projects for Mexico in the field of rural training with different international organizations and institutions such as the CEC, USAID, UNDP, etc., and has had the opportunity to participate in several publications of the same.

Teresa is an expert in project execution and evaluation, with extensive experience in the federal government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations and academia.

Nancy Sutley is LADWP’s Senior Assistant General Manager of External and Regulatory Affairs, and the Chief Sustainability Officer. In these roles, Ms. Sutley oversees the Department’s customer service operations, energy efficiency and water conservation programs, environmental regulation, public affairs and legislative teams. Over the course of her tenure with the Department, Ms. Sutley has initiated LADWP’s corporate sustainability programs, spearheaded LADWP’s La Kretz Innovation Campus, promoted the electrification of the transportation network and coordinated the Clean Grid LA plan.

Prior to joining LADWP in 2014, Ms. Sutley served as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Under her leadership, the Council played a central role in shepherding the Obama Administration’s signature environmental projects and was one of the chief architects of President Obama’s 2013 Climate Action Plan.

Ms. Sutley has an extensive background in public service that includes posts as Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment for the City of Los Angeles, Board Member of the Metropolitan Water District, Member of the California State Water Resources Control Board, Energy Advisor for California Governor Gray Davis, Deputy Secretary for Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Senior Policy Advisor for the US EPA during the Clinton Administration.

Ms. Sutley holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University.

Nicholas W. (“Nico”) van Aelstyn is a partner in the Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental Practice Group in the firm’s San Francisco office.

Areas of Practice

Nicholas has more than 25 years of environmental counseling and litigation experience. His environmental compliance counseling practice focuses on climate change, Brownfields redevelopment, sustainability and other regulatory and transactional matters. His climate change practice encompasses California’s Cap-and-Trade Program (compliance, rulemaking, enforcement and emission trading contracts) and other aspects of AB 32, as well as related state, federal and international programs and international offset projects. His climate finance practice includes handling complex offset transactions, market advice, and ESG counseling (environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities). Nico’s transactional experience also includes environmental due diligence for a wide variety of real estate and corporate transactions, with special expertise in the development of renewable energy projects. Nico’s environmental litigation practice focuses on cost recovery actions, regulatory enforcement actions (e.g., administrative enforcement proceedings brought by CARB, DTSC, DPR, AQMDs, RWQCBs and other agencies), writ proceedings to challenge regulations and representation of PRPs and PRP groups at Superfund sites; he has particular expertise with contaminated sediment sites. Nico has represented clients in every lawsuit filed to date challenging California’s Cap-and-Trade Program. His broad litigation experience also includes commercial, real estate, intellectual property and appellate cases. He has handled matters in state and federal courts across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and various administrative fora.

Hannon Rasool is a deputy director at the California Energy Commission and leads the Fuels and Transportation Division. He manages a team of over 70 multi-disciplinary staff members focused on grant funding, policy and analysis, and engineering.

The Fuels and Transportation Division leads the state in zero-emission vehicle infrastructure deployment for electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. It makes key investments in infrastructure for passenger cars, trucks, and buses, and invests in manufacturing, workforce development, and fuel production.

Rasool, who joined the Energy Commission in July 2020, has more than 12 years of experience in the energy industry, including the regulated utility space and government. He has an extensive background in regulatory affairs and electric vehicle infrastructure. His work history ranges from clean transportation to renewable energy and net metering to energy storage and distributed energy technologies.

Aaron Schroeder is a Canadian professional engineer who leads Brightspot Climate, a consulting firm specializing in greenhouse gas quantification, reporting and verification. Aaron grew up on a mixed dairy and grain farm in rural Saskatchewan where his passion for working as a steward of the land originated.

Mr. Schroeder’s has gained significant hands-on experience by conducing independent verifications of more than 300 greenhouse gas statements made by organizations and project developers across a broad range of commercial and industrial sectors. His technical knowledge of greenhouse gas emissions includes activities carbon capture and storage, oil and gas production and processing, fossil and renewable electricity generation, dairy and beef management, soil carbon sequestration, nitrogen fertilizer management, waste management, and biofuels.

Aaron is sought after for his expertise devising strategies to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical implementation of methodologies for quantifying, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions and emission reductions.

Katie serves as Managing Director of IETA, the global multi-sector business voice for the intersection of markets and climate change. On behalf of IETA’s 150+ corporate members, Katie leads efforts to inform market solutions to address environmental challenges across the Americas and globally. Katie sits on the Global Steering Committee for the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), Boards of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and the International Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) Knowledge Centre, and numerous Advisory Panels including for Canada’s Institute for Clean Growth & Climate Change and the Ivey Foundation. In 2019, Katie was recognized as a Clean16 and Clean50 award recipient for contributing to Clean Capitalism Leadership in Canada.

Alejandro is an experienced consultant in carbon pricing and originator of offset projects, particularly in the Canadian and voluntary carbon markets. With more than 5 years of experience, Alejandro supports clients with identifying viable offset projects for development, procuring credits from existing projects, and monitoring the trends of the Canadian and voluntary markets to design strategies with a focus on net-zero pledges and compliance cost minimization.

Edwin Makkinga is the Manager of Climate Policy at Enbridge Inc., a North American leader in energy delivery. In this role, he supports Enbridge’s efforts on external engagement related to climate-related public policy with regulators, investors, and other stakeholders to advance the company’s role within the transition to a lower-emissions economy in both the U.S. and Canada.

As Manager of Climate Policy, Edwin supports Enbridge’s business development group in evaluating investments in lower emissions technologies through the lens of current and emerging climate policy, including the generation of environmental attributes. He also supports corporate disclosure of climate-related risks and opportunities, performance towards our emissions reduction targets, and participates in industry associations and other multi-lateral groups on behalf of Enbridge and the midstream oil and gas sector.

Before joining Enbridge Inc., he worked for Enbridge Gas Distribution and Aqua Terre Solutions which enabled him to gain a strong background in environmental management with a focus in air emissions, contaminated soil and groundwater remediation and environmental assessment and screenings.

He has a B.Sc. from Redeemer College and a Certificate of Environmental Management from the University of Toronto.

Andrew Westgate is joining Clear Sky as Assistant General Counsel focusing on environmental markets. Prior to joining Clear Sky, Andrew worked as an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised oil and gas, power, industrial and financial institution clients on a range of environmental matters including climate change, environmental credits, carbon neutrality, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). His experience includes transactional diligence and contract negotiation, permitting, transaction structuring and environmental issues at legacy sites. Andrew also advised clients on environmental issues as part of Latham’s Greater China Practice. Prior to joining Latham, Andrew worked in Beijing as a consultant, providing strategic advice to American firms working in China, and at an environmental technology startup.

Tim Kramer oversees the SIG Carbon team that includes a portfolio of 25 Improved Forest Management projects, encompassing 1,000,000+ acres and 17 million credits in the voluntary and California compliance market. Tim works with clients, directs SIG’s technical staff, supervises third party contractors, and coordinates with carbon registry administrators. Tim also leads SIG’s efforts to accelerate innovation in natural climate solutions through the integration of remote sensing technologies into forest carbon development and standards. Tim holds a B.A. in Geography from University of Iowa and a Master of Environmental Science (MESc) from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Jamie Callendar is currently a managing director of Inlandsis Fund and has played a key role in growing the investment fund’s portfolio to over 30 offset projects since 2017. He is an environmental engineer with more than 15 years of experience in developing, financing and implementing GHG reduction and environmental technology projects. Previously, at Encana Corporation, Jamie managed $35 million of investments under the Encana Environmental Innovation Fund and developed 70 carbon offset projects. Prior to Encana, Jamie was the Director of Technical Services at Blue Source Canada where he led carbon offset development activities and oversaw the external consulting business for the Canadian business unit. Jamie has been the lead author of multiple government approved GHG quantification protocols and continues to be a subject matter expert for several protocol technical working groups. In his spare time, Jamie can often be found with his shovel in the ground in his expanding orchard.

Islay began her insurance career in 2000 as a broker with Willis in the London market before joining Hiscox as an Underwriter at Lloyd’s and in Guernsey. A proficient Spanish speaker, Islay focused on underwriting special risks for corporate and high-net worth clients across Latin America and Europe. During her time at Hiscox Islay led the integration project of a newly acquired AON business unit to form an internal broking team, Hiscox ASM.

An opportunity to move overseas in 2008 was the start of almost a decade living and working in the UAE, India and Pakistan, latterly working with the Dubai branch office of Lloyd’s reinsurance broker RFIB.

Now UK-based, Islay will be underwriting and developing Parhelion’s environmental commodities products.

Dr. Stephanie Ly is the Senior Manager, Fleet Electrification and Charging, at the World Resources Institute. She leads the manufacturing and supply chain work under the Electric School Bus Initiative, which aims to electrify all U.S. school buses by 2030. Stephanie also manages the WRI NDC Transport Initiative for Asia, which focuses on decarbonizing transportation in China, India, and Vietnam to help meet national climate goals.

Prior to joining WRI, Stephanie worked at Meritor, a major automotive supplier and at TransPower, a start-up electric truck company managing electric commercial vehicle deployments with manufacturers, corporate fleets, and government agencies. Stephanie previously served as an Assistant Director at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Operation Smile, where she oversaw a global research program. Stephanie holds a Ph.D. from UCLA, a Master in Public Health from the University of Southern California, and a B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Business Administration from Lycoming College.

Joel is a leading advocate for electric vehicles, clean energy and effective climate policies. As executive director of Plug In America, he is focused on continuing to build it as the national consumer voice for electric vehicles in the United States. He is chair of the Global EV Drivers’ Alliance, which links together EV driver associations around the world. He is also a member of the Los Angeles Metro Sustainability Council. Prior to joining Plug In America, he served as vice president for business development at the Climate Action Reserve, the state-chartered nonprofit that runs North America’s largest carbon offset registry. He has an MBA from UC Berkeley and an MA in international economics from the Johns Hopkins University. He drives a Nissan LEAF and mostly charges at home on a Clipper Creek HCS-50 charging station.

Leads the Clean Transportation business at SRECTrade, leading full-service manager of environmental commodities, helping fleets and facilities meet their ESG objectives, maximize financial and environmental outcomes, and make more informed fuel and technology decisions for renewable energy and transportation fuels across North America.

SRECTrade facts:
– Largest agent manager of EV assets for the California LCFS program (and across North America)
– 60,000+ assets under management, 175,000+ total assets managed SRECTrade’s tech platform
– Working in 14 compliance markets across 20 unique environmental commodities (ECs)

SRECTrade pays fleets and facilities when they charge up using cleaner fuels. We enable participation by administering complex regulatory programs to fund equipment budgets, effectively lowering the total cost and accelerating adoption of electric vehicles, trucks, forklifts and a host of other alternate fuel vehicles and their charging/fueling equipment.

SRECTrade’s nationwide regulatory involvement and unique technology platform underpin the firm’s innovative services while enabling both public and private equipment operators to benefit from complex regulatory compliance programs and meet ESG goals. In November 2021, SRECTrade became a wholly owned subsidiary of Xpansiv, global marketplace for ESG-inclusive Commodities.

Eduardo has more than 15 years of experience in international and national carbon pricing instruments and policy. He has focused on the development of greenhouse gas emission reduction projects and has designed climate change projects in several countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa in the following sectors: renewable energy, forestry, energy efficiency, oil and gas, aluminum, mining, landfills, agriculture, refrigerants, fertilizers, cement and construction.

He is currently the CEO of MÉXICO2, a Mexican Stock Exchange company, where he oversees the development of environmental markets such as carbon and green bonds markets. He has participated in the creation of a secondary market of Clean Energy Certificates (CEL) which supports the Mexican Wholesale Electricity Market.

He led the development of the simulation exercise of a Mexican Emissions Trading System as a preparation for the regulated emissions scheme in the country. The exercise was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and counted with the participation of more than 120 companies. He has been a speaker at several conferences and events related to climate change and climate finance. He is member of the Working Group on Green Finance of the United Nations Initiative for Sustainable Stock Exchanges.

Eduardo has several specializations in the development of emission trading systems organized by the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), organization in which he is instructor on carbon markets in Latin America. On these specializations Eduardo has paid special attention to the role of stakeholders from the electricity market due to its importance in emissions trading.

As the Director of Latin American Operations, Amy oversees the development and implementation of the Reserve’s protocols and programs throughout Latin America. Amy further manages stakeholder engagement, consulting services, and technical assistance to support climate policies and carbon markets in Latin America. Amy coordinates with the Reserve’s Analytical and Communications and Business Outreach Teams to ensure the Reserve’s programmatic policies and outreach efforts support the Reserve’s operations throughout Latin America.

Amy previously worked in the Bay of Jiquilisco, El Salvador, where she supported local communities and government institutions in developing and implementing forest management plans and advancing environmental policies and sustainable economic opportunities. Amy has further lived, studied, and worked in Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, and Norway. Amy graduated from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where she received a Master’s in International Environmental Policy and a Master’s in Business Administration. Amy received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a Concentration in Environmental Studies from Kenyon College.

A biologist with more than 15 years of experience in environment-related issues, she has specialized in topics related to the development of public policy, financing, sustainable development, climate change, and forests. She has worked in state and federal government, but also has been an independent consultant and has collaborated with some organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) coordinating the creation of the Alliance for Climate Action of Guadalajara and with the World Bank, where she coordinated the development of the Jalisco´s Emissions Reduction Initiative (IRE).

Alejandra is currently the Director of the Environmental Fund of the State of Jalisco, where she oversees the development of different programs and the dispersion of resources that allow facing Jalisco’s environmental problems. In addition, she coordinates the development of different strategies related to markets such as the development of the commercial model for deforestation-free meat, the state bioeconomy strategy, and the arrangements to develop a local carbon market and the participation of Jalisco in voluntary carbon markets. In addition, she represents Jalisco on different international platforms such as the GCF Task Force and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI).

As Vice President of Programs for the Climate Action Reserve, Kristen oversees implementation of the Reserve’s registry services including the voluntary offset project registry, the Reserve’s role as a California Offset Project Registry, and Climate Forward; ensuring effective and efficient process across the programs. Her responsibilities include managing staff that provide support for the reporting, verification of emissions reduction projects and overseeing the verification accreditation program. Kristen and the Analytical team provide technical assistance to project developers and verification bodies, develop updates to the Program and Verification Program Manuals, and provide support for utilization of the Reserve software.

Kristen previously worked at the Reserve for 7 years, serving in several roles including Program Director, where she played a key role in implementing the Reserve’s role as Offset Project Registry in California’s cap-and-trade program. She also served as the Reserve’s Program Manager, where she was the lead in supporting the Forest Project Protocol, and as the Reserve Administrator, Program Associate and Program Assistant. After her time at the Reserve, she pursued another passion to work in the community and taught high school math and physics. Most recently, Kristen was a management consultant working to support federal hazard mitigation grant administration with the State of California. Kristen completed her Bachelor’s degree in health science with a concentration in community health and economics at Cal State Dominguez Hills, and has a Masters in Public Administration from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.

David serves as Chief Executive Officer of Verra where he oversees all aspects of the organization, including ensuring the financial and operational health of the organization and that the organization’s certification programs meet high quality integrity and transparency standards. In recent years David’s focus has been to expand the scope of Verra, broadening it from an organization dedicated exclusively to certifying carbon reductions to one that also identifies and develops other standards frameworks for a sustainable world. In this vein, David works to ensure that the standards Verra identifies, develops and manages facilitate the flow of capital to enable countries, the private sector and civil society achieve and demonstrate their climate and sustainable development goals. David works closely with the Verra Board to chart the future course of the organization, and spearheads outreach to government, foundation, business and environmental leaders around the world.

A world-renowned expert on climate change, David began his work in this sector when he worked for ICF Consulting in 1994 providing technical advice to Latin American countries developing their GHG inventories and serving on the team that pioneered verification procedures for emission reduction projects. In 1999 David joined the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Mexico as its global climate change advisor overseeing the development of an energy-sector grid emission factor and baseline studies for forest protection efforts. In 2003, David joined EcoSecurities in Oxford (UK) where he led a joint venture to develop landfill gas-to-energy projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). At EcoSecurities David also spearheaded the company’s efforts in the voluntary market, helping to identify key infrastructure and procedural needs that the voluntary carbon market lacked in the early days of its existence.

David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Princeton University and a Master’s in Public Policy, with concentrations in Environmental Policy and International Development, from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Originally born and raised in Mexico City, David now resides in Bethesda, MD with his wife and two children.

Robert Parkhurst has more than 25 years of experience designing and implementing environmental markets. His work on offset markets started more than 15 years when he was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to serve on the Board of Directors of the California Climate Action Registry. In that capacity, he approved the first version of the Forest Project Protocol. Since then, Mr. Parkhurst has been involved in the development of more than 10 offset protocols from refrigerant destruction to landfill gas destruction to more than seven different agriculture focused protocols.

In 2019, Mr. Parkhurst founded Sierra View Solutions to help companies design and implement environmental, sustainability and circular economy programs. His primary focus is working at the interface of agriculture, policy, and environmental markets where he helps create new revenue streams for food companies, farmers, ranchers and forest owners. Mr. Parkhurst’s team rapidly researches and analyzes the critical needs of organizations, identifies new business opportunities, develops concrete programs and implementation plans, and identifies partners, stakeholders and thought leaders to help organizations become the industry sustainability leaders. His clients include government agencies, nonprofits, and private companies.

Prior to founding Sierra View Solutions, Mr. Parkhurst spent six years at the Environmental Defense Fund where he implemented data and metrics programs that encouraged farmers and ranchers to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their operations. The GHG reductions were provided or sold to companies to meet their voluntary or regulatory emission targets, including Walmart, Campbell’s, Microsoft, and Smithfield. Mr. Parkhurst’s approach and analyses have been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals, including Climate Policy and Rangeland Ecology & Management.

Mr. Parkhurst worked at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) where he led the company’s ClimateSmart™ program, a first-of-its-kind voluntary program that allowed PG&E customers to balance out the GHG emissions from their home or company. This included the purchase of more than two million tons of carbon offsets on behalf of PG&E’s customers and promotion of the program externally with business, environmental, and community leaders.

Mr. Parkhurst has been widely recognized for his environmental expertise. He received a Climate Protection Award from the U.S. EPA for his leadership on climate change. In 2013 and 2016, he received “CARROT” awards from the Climate Action Reserve for his work developing credible, accurate, and consistent GHG reporting standards. The American Carbon Registry awarded him with their Innovation award in 2015.

Mr. Parkhurst has served on multiple boards identifying and implementing climate change solutions. He co-chaired a California Air Resources Board (CARB) to co-chair a committee to develop a long-term research plan to identify the science to reduce emissions from dairy manure and enteric fermentation (cow burps). He was appointed to the CARB’s Compliance Offset Protocol Task Force representing the agricultural community. The Task Force identified and recommended new Compliance Offset Protocols for use in California’s Cap-and-Trade Program between 2021 and 2030. Mr. Parkhurst currently serves on the Board of the Clean Power Alliance which purchases electricity for approximately three million customers across 32 communities throughout Southern California. He is also on the City Council for the City of Sierra Madre.