Ileana Navarro

Ileana Navarro is a Community Organizer and Air Quality Specialist with the Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN). Ileana is a graduate from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies. In her past experiences, she has worked as a Certified Arborist for a vegetation management company focused on reducing wildfire risk. In her current position, Ileana’s work involves regular communication with communities most affected by the Central Valley’s air quality. Through collaborative work and research, she works towards educating these communities on important environmental issues and health impacts.

Dr. Werner Kutsch

Dr. Werner Kutsch is Director General of ICOS since March 2014. He is biologist, plant ecologist and ecosystem scientist by education and has worked on ecosystem carbon cycling for 25 years in Europe and Africa. The focus of his work has been for a long time in the comparison of ecosystems after land use change and integrating complex landscapes. He has worked at the Ecosystem Research Centre of University of Kiel, at CSIR in Pretoria, at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena and at Thünen, the Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries in Braunschweig.

| Blog Post

A note from The Climate Center CEO Ellie Cohen

The outcome of this presidential election is a blow to our community’s hopes for accelerated, equitable climate action. But this election does not spell the end of climate progress. Why? Because we in the California climate movement are resilient, we are committed, and we refuse to give up the fight. Our foundational belief at The … Read more

| Press Release

California voters pass Prop 4, the climate bond

Bond secures $10 billion for investments in clean air, clean water, and climate resilience

Climate Action Now

SACRAMENTO — Moments ago, the Associated Press announced that California’s Proposition 4 has passed. Prop 4 will invest $10 billion in urgent protections against extreme heat, wildfire, sea level rise, and flooding, as well as investments in clean water. The bond also includes funding for California’s farms, natural lands, and waters to build climate resilience. Baani … Read more

Carbon Dioxide Removal Webinar Series

As the world navigates the necessary transition away from polluting fuels toward clean energy, most climate scientists acknowledge that we must also remove climate pollution that has already been dumped into the atmosphere. The call for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) grows stronger as new analyses find that the global community is not on track to … Read more

Dr. Jens Birkholzer

Dr. Jens Birkholzer is a Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and serves as Senior Advisor to the Energy Geosciences Division in the Earth and Environmental Systems Area. Dr. Birkholzer is a world-renowned expert on evaluating the feasibility and environmental sustainability of a broad portfolio of geo-energy applications. He has over 400 scientific publications and serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, the Energies Journal (Geo-Energy Section), and is an Editorial Policy Advisor for the Journal of Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment. Dr. Birkholzer leads the international DECOVALEX Model Comparison Initiative as its Chair, is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and a Senior Fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology.

Amanda McKay

Amanda McKay is the Policy Manager for the Pipeline Safety Trust. Since joining the Trust in April of 2022, she has immersed herself in the regulatory issues around carbon dioxide and hydrogen pipelines and the safety risks they pose to local communities. Amanda has a background in environmental policy, communications, and community engagement. She received her B.A. in Environmental Policy from Western Washington University and has a Master’s degree in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law (MSL) from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, OR.

Jack Willingham

Jack Willingham is the Director of Yazoo County, Mississippi’s Emergency Management Agency. Director Willingham and his team oversaw emergency management in response to a pipeline rupture in Satartia, MS in 2020. In the years following, Director Willingham has coordinated with relevant stakeholders on this topic to share their experiences, emergency response tactics and best practices regarding pipeline safety.

Alayna Chuney

As a senior member of the Carbon180 team, Alayna works to ensure justice and equity are at the forefront of carbon removal policy development and advocacy. Alayna brings years of experience in environmental justice, environmental law, and litigation, representing frontline communities and advocating for healthier environments. Alayna, an attorney in Maryland, received her Juris Doctor from Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s in social relations and policy from Michigan State University.

Carbon Dioxide Removal: Considerations for Responsible Deployment on Land and Ocean

Side Event Room 8 in the Baku Stadium at COP 29 in Azerbaijan

The Climate Center, World Ocean Council, and ICOS-ERIC are partnering for an Official Side Event at COP 29 on responsible carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Reaching net zero and net negative requires deploying new and scaling current CDR strategies while establishing safeguards for communities and ecosystems. We will hear from experts from around the world on … Read more