Board

LIC. SERGIO FEDEROVISKY
Vice Minister of Environment, Argentina

Sergio Federovisky is a biologist and environmental journalist. 

JEAN-FRANÇOIS FERRY
Director, Americas 
Environment and Climate Change Canada 

Jean-François is currently Director, Americas in the Bilateral Affairs and Trade Directorate, in the International Affairs Branch.  In this role, he is responsible for managing bilateral relations in the region to advance cooperation on climate and environmental issues.

Jean-François has over 15 years of experience in advancing climate action and environmental cooperation in various settings, such as bilateral and regional Agreements and within Multilateral Environmental Agreements.  Jean-François also has over 20 years of experience working closely with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including other national governments, subnational governments, industry and associations, and environmental non-governmental organisations to develop and implement policies and regulations to successfully address climate and environmental issues of global concern.

Jean-François holds a Masters in Environmental Engineering and a Baccalaureate in Civil Engineering.

DAVID FELIPE OLARTE AMAYA
Head of the Office of International Affairs
Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia

Mr Olarte is professional in International Affairs at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University and a Specialist in Project Management at EAN University. 

He has national experience in the governmental field, in international cooperation, negotiation and formulation of projects. He also has knowledge in law and international institutions. 

He currently holds the position of Head of the Office of International Affairs of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia. 

BRENDAN DEVLIN
Counsellor
Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission responsible for Foresight and Strategy 

Mr Devlin has led the North Sea, the islands, sanctions and aspects of external legislation teams in DG Energy. Before 2007, he guided the negotiation, signature and ratification of the Energy Community Treaty, the first multilateral treaty between the states of South East Europe and the European Union (and the first energy Treaty signed by the EU). He began working in the Commission at the Directorate General for Competition leading major cases looking at the gas market in Germany and the North Sea. Then for three years, he worked as a note-taker at EU-US Summits. 

By training, Mr Devlin is a lawyer and economist. He worked as a journalist before entering the Commission, writing in the UK national press and as an editor on a specialist political/economic journal. He has also worked in a Fortune 500 company and as teacher of political economy at the London School of Economics. 

SHRI NARESH PAL GANGWAR
Joint Secretary
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India

BRIAN CARROLL
Assistant Secretary General (Climate Action & Environment)
Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment, Ireland

SEGAWA KEIKO
Deputy Director-General
Global Environment Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Japan

JANINE KURIGER
Head Global Programme Climate Change and Environment
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland

Janine Kuriger is Head of Division at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Her team is responsible for bilateral and multilateral climate change and environment cooperation, such as Switzerland’s contribution to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.

She has a longstanding experience in development cooperation and previously served as the Head of the SDC office in India where she was in charge of the climate change programme. Since joining the Swiss development cooperation, she has held various positions at SDC’s headquarter in Bern, the SDC cooperation office in Peru and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Bern, working mostly on environmental and climate change issues. She has extensive knowledge both in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Among others, she was involved in the development and implementation of projects in the fields of clean air, energy efficiency in brick kilns and buildings, cleaner production in industries as well as the promotion of renewable energies. Ms. Kuriger is well connected with the civil society, academia, private sector as well as international organizations.  

She holds a MA in Political Science and an Executive Master in Business Administration.

JONATHAN BANKS
Global Director, Super Pollutants Program
Clean Air Task Force

Jonathan has worked with CATF since 1999 and serves as Global Director of the Super Pollutants program, where he develops and directs all of CATF’s efforts to dramatically reduce methane pollution from energy, waste and agriculture.  Jonathan brings over two decades of experience working with governments, companies and civil society around the world to foster and implement policies to reduce methane pollution. Jonathan works to catalyze international coalitions, country level policies and subnational efforts, to foster rapid change. 

Prior to joining CATF, Jonathan served as policy director for a national environmental campaign working to clean up coal fired power plants in the US and was legislative assistant to U.S. Congressman Ralph Hall for energy and environment.

Jonathan has a B.A in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas and also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of Congo.

DAVID WASKOW
Director, International Climate Initiative
World Resources Institute (WRI)

David Waskow is the Director of WRI’s International Climate Initiative. The Initiative is focused on international cooperation that catalyzes and supports action on climate change at the national level in developed and developing countries. The initiative includes work on the elements of a 2015 international climate agreement and the Climate Justice Dialogue, addressing issues of climate impacts and equity.

David has worked for many years at the intersection of environmental and development issues. Prior to WRI, David directed climate change policy at the development organization Oxfam America, where much of his work focused on the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. While at Oxfam, he addressed a wide range of climate finance issues, including increasing financial resources, the development of effective, responsive finance institutions, and the participation of local communities in directing the use of finance on the ground. At Oxfam, he also directed policy work on climate adaptation and resilience strategies, including food security and agriculture issues and the role of the private sector in climate resilience.

Prior to joining Oxfam, Waskow served as the international program director for Friends of the Earth, where his role included overseeing the organization's work on the environmental dimensions of trade policy and international financial institutions. In addition to his international experience, he has worked on domestic issues ranging from low-income housing to garment industry labor conditions.

He has testified before Congress on responses to climate change and on trade issues, and he is frequently a go-to source on climate change financing for the media, from The Washington Post to The New York Times.

He has graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University; his undergraduate degree is from Brown University.

ZITOUNI OULD-DADA
Deputy Director, Climate and Environment Division
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Dr. Ould-Dada is currently Deputy Director in the Climate and Environment Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Before joining FAO, he worked as Head of Technology Unit at UNEP in Paris for 5 years. Prior to that, he worked for the British Government for 15 years holding several senior positions at Department of Energy and Climate Change; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Food Standards Agency; Environment Agency; and Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. He also worked for the French Government on international climate change during France Presidency of the European Union in 2008.

His 23 years international work experience covers a wide range of fields including climate change; energy policy; technology and innovation; agriculture and food security; environmental policy; radiation protection; and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Dr. Ould-Dada is renowned internationally for his strong diplomatic and moderating skills and ability to build collaborative partnerships. His international responsibilities include UK Lead Negotiator on technology and Chair of climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC; Chair of European Union Expert Group on Technology; Chair of IRENA’s Policy and Strategy Committee; Member of International Energy Agency’s Renewable Energy Working Party; Member of UN Inter-Agency Task Team for implementation of Technology Facilitation Mechanism under the 2030 Agenda; and Member of UN Inter-Agency Task Team to develop a UN System-wide Approach to Climate Action for the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit 2019.

Dr. Ould-Dada has a BSc in Environmental Engineering from Institut Universitaire de Technologie, Perpignan, France; Master Degree in Environmental Management and Planning, Université de Rennes, France; and PhD in Radiation Protection from Imperial College, London, UK.

STEPHEN HAMMER
Advisor, Global Partnerships & Strategy
World Bank Group

Stephen Hammer currently serves as Advisor, Global Partnerships & Strategy, with the World Bank's Climate Change Group in Washington DC.  Dr. Hammer leads on work associated with 'green recovery' from the COVID-19 crisis, Just Transition, and the Bank's climate-related engagement with the G7, G20, UNFCCC, and the UN Secretary General's climate team. 

He previously served as Manager of Climate Policy for the World Bank Group, where he led an interdisciplinary team or 30 scientists, economists, technical experts, and support staff focused on frontier research on climate change and development topics, the mainstreaming of climate change in World Bank operations, and the provision of climate-related advisory services to clients and Bank teams.  Prior to assuming this role, he led the Bank's work on cities and climate change.  

Before joining the World Bank in 2013, Dr. Hammer was a professor at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP).  He also previously taught at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Milano School of Policy, Management and the Environment. 

DREW SHINDELL
Chair of the CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel

Drew Shindell is the current Chair of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Scientific Advisory Panel. He is Professor of Climate Sciences at the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University.

From 1995 to 2014 he was a scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City. Dr. Shindell taught atmospheric chemistry at Columbia University for more than a decade. His research concerns natural and human drivers of climate change, linkages between air quality and climate change, and the interface between climate change science and policy.

He has been an author on more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and received awards from Scientific American, NASA, the EPA, and the NSF.