On March 20 2024, the day after the California Climate Policy Summit, The Climate Center and our partners led a day of advocacy at state legislative offices. This was an opportunity to meet directly with lawmakers and their staff to deliver a clear and compelling message about the bills we want to see California pass … Read more
Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki is the Global Research Lead for Soil and Land Health at CIFOR-ICRAF, based in Nairobi, Kenya. A soil scientist, her research focuses on scaling farmer-centered landscape restoration, understanding drivers of degradation, and quantifying the impacts of land management on soil health Since 2009 she has co-developed and implemented the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) in over 40 countries across the tropics. The framework is a systematic methodology to assess soil health, land degradation, and vegetation dynamics and track restoration efforts across landscapes. She has published widely on soil organic carbon, ecosystem services, and land degradation across sub-Saharan Africa and the tropics, including a coherent set of open-access datasets. She co-founded the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), which aims to catalyze investments in soil health for human well-being and climate. She is on the Scientific Task Force and the Monitoring Task Force for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration as well as the Scientific Steering Committee for the Global Soil Health Programme. She co-leads the Landscape Restoration Transformative Partnership Platform. She is also a founding Board Member of the International Union of Agroforestry (IUAF).
California passed a number of important bills into law this year, including bills to hold corporations accountable for their carbon emissions, codify 30×30 conservation goals, move transportation toward zero-emissions vehicles and infrastructure, make it easier to implement transmission infrastructure and finance large-scale infrastructure projects, and reign in oil industry greed at the expense of consumers. … Read more
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Protecting 30 percent of the world’s lands and waters by 2030 (30×30) to prevent biodiversity loss is often viewed as a conservation-focused goal. But nature-based solutions and efforts to achieve 30×30 have the potential to contribute significantly to broader climate objectives. This conversation examined the relationship between nature and climate, drawing from real-world examples and … Read more
Matt Petersen is the President and CEO of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI.) LACI is creating an inclusive green economy by unlocking innovation (e.g., incubating leading startups), transforming markets (i.e., creating aspirational partnerships), and enhancing community (i.e., inspiring future entrepreneurs). LACI’s three priorities are accelerating transportation electrification, clean energy, and sustainable cities. Prior to joining LACI, Matt Petersen was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as the first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles. Serving as CSO for four years, Petersen was the chief architect of the groundbreaking Sustainable City pLAn, led efforts to make LA a global leader in EVs, and helped create the Climate Mayors.
Luisa, a political scientist with a focus in interdisciplinary sustainability research, started working at Bellona’s Berlin office in 2022. The international environmental and climate action organization pursues a systemic approach to climate change mitigation on a science-based and solution-oriented basis. Bellona Deutschland is committed to paving the way for a climate-neutral economy in Germany. As policy advisor for a sustainable hydrogen economy, Luisa is responsible for analyzing and advocating for a systemically sensible production, distribution, and use of hydrogen.
Collin Rees is the U.S. Program Manager at Oil Change International working to stop the expansion of the fossil fuel industry, support grassroots resistance against dirty infrastructure, end public support for oil, gas, and coal, and wind down fossil fuel production with a just and equitable transition. He has campaigned on climate and racial justice, labor issues, and new economic models for over a decade, spanning local to international levels. Prior to joining Oil Change, Collin worked to build the power of the student fossil fuel divestment movement at 350.org, and trained youth to run campaigns with the Energy Action Coalition (now the Power Shift Network). He campaigned at the international climate negotiations with youth advocacy group SustainUS and is now a Board member, and previously worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Collin studied Mechanical and materials Science Engineering at Harvard University.
Richard Folland has been Carbon Tracker’s policy and government affairs adviser since 2014 and in 2023 joined as the Head of Policy and Engagement. Richard has over 30 years of experience as a diplomat and advocate, operating at the highest level, based in Europe and elsewhere. He has worked on the climate and energy agenda, as a policymaker and as a private sector advisor, for 15 years. A former head of international energy policy at the UK Foreign Office, Richard has also been JPMorgan’s European Advisor on Energy and Climate Change, the Executive Director of the Climate Markets and Investment Association (CMIA), and the Head of Energy and Environment at Inline Policy. He was Co-Founder of the strategic advisory firm, Sustineri, working with institutional investors on climate and sustainability issues.
Serena McIlwain was confirmed as the Maryland Department of the Environment’s 11th Secretary on March 2, 2023. Prior to that, Secretary McIlwain was the Under Secretary at the California Environmental Protection Agency. A native of the Washington Metro area, Secretary McIlwain also worked for the federal government as a Senior Executive for numerous Executive Branch agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as Assistant Regional Administrator for Region 9 in San Francisco, California, Performance Improvement Officer, and Director of Continuous Improvement at U.S. EPA Headquarters, and Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy. Secretary McIlwain received a Master of Public Administration from George Mason University and a Master’s degree in Administration and International Studies from Central Michigan University.