News and Events
ADP Convenes Roundtable in Support of International Forest Protections in U.S. Climate Policy
Avoided Deforestation Partners was honored to host a discussion on the need for the U.S. Congress to take the lead on integrating International Forest Protection in U.S. Climate Policy. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai served as the keynote speaker. Professor Maathai spoke about the urgent need for the U.S. to adopt policies that will protect the world’s rainforests and the communities whose lives depend on their continued existence. Dr. Maathai was followed on stage by eminent environmental, science and business leaders, all of whom shared concerns that the U.S. Congress must act soon if we are to advance one of the most critical and achievable climate change solutions.
Roundtable Discussion
Following the public luncheon, AD Partners and colleagues convened a roundtable meeting with 80 individuals representing over 55 for- and non-profit organizations to discuss support for the inclusion of international forest carbon principles in U.S. climate policy, with a focus on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. Professor Maathai participated in the full three-hour discussion.
General consensus emerged that a set-aside allocation for tropical forest protection and inclusion of forest carbon in the international offset provision are important and complementary tools for advancing REDD. The concluding discussion focused on ways to broaden and maximize support for forest carbon, including coalition building across the social sector and the coalescing of complementary sustainability and resiliencecentered efforts with avoided deforestation. Participants agreed that the continued collaboration among forand non-profit groups remains an essential component of moving practical avoided deforestation policy forward. It was also concluded that the integration of broad based “poverty” organizations would constitute a welcome addition to the ever growing coalition of organizations supporting the inclusion of international forestry provisions in U.S. climate legislation.
Sponsored by Avoided Deforestation Partners with: The Green Belt Movement, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, Covington & Burling LLP, Climate Focus, PG&E Corp., and Baker & McKenzie LLP.
Photos credits for all of the above: Erika Nortemann, TNC
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Conference Organizers
- Jeffrey Horowitz – Avoided Deforestation Partners
- Chris Tuite – Director, Green Belt Movement North America
- Jennifer Denney – Director Strategic Communication-Climate, The Nature Conservancy
- Charlotte Streck – AD Partners; Director and Founder, Climate Focus B.V.
- Rick Saines – AD Partners; Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP
- Robert O’Sullivan – AD Partners; Executive Director North America, Climate Focus
- Toby Janson-Smith – AD Partners; Senior Director, Conservation International
- William Boyd – Attorney, Covington & Burling LLP
- Aimée Christensen – Christensen Global Strategies LLC
- MaryKate Hanlon – Avoided Deforestation Partners
Featured Keynote Speakers / Panelists
- Wangari Maathai – The Greenbelt Movement
- Stephanie Meeks – Acting President, The Nature Conservancy
- Russell Mittermeier – President, Conservation International
- Fred Krupp – President, Environmental Defense
- Stuart Eizenstat – Partner, Covington & Burling
- John Holdren – Director, Woods Hole Research Center
- Thomas Lovejoy – President, The Heinz Center
- James Rogers – Chairman, CEO, & President, Duke Energy Corp.
- Kathleen Kennedy Townsend – Environmentalist, former Lieutenant Governor, Maryland
Invited Guests
- Aldo de Cresci Neto – Attorney, Fleury Malheiros, Gasparini, De Cresci e Nogueira de Lima
- Ann Wrobleski – Vice President, Government Affairs, International Paper Company
- Barbara Bramble – Senior Program Advisor, International Programs, National Wildlife Federation
- Bill Goodfellow – Executive Director, Center for International Policy
- Brad Gentry – Yale School of Forestry
- Bill Nitze – President, GEMSTAR Group
- Brent Swallow – Global Coordinator, ASB Partnership for Tropical Forest Margins
- Carina Bracer – Manager, Tropical America Katoomba Group
- Cathleen Kelly – Climate & Energy Program Director, German Marshall Fund US
- Dan Lashof – Science Director, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council
- Daniel Zarin – Consultant, David and Lucille Packard Foundation; University of Florida
- David Hayes – Global Chair of the Environment, Land & Resources, Latham & Watkins, LLP
- David Struhs – Vice President, Environmental Affairs, International Paper Company
- David Shapiro – Partner, Brunswick Group
- David Williamson – Beveridge and Diamond, PC
- Diana Movius – International Policy Associate, Center for Clean Air Policy
- Dirk Brinkman – Founder and CEO, Brinkman and Associates Reforestation Ltd.
- Donna Lee – U.S. Department of State, Office of Global Change
- Doug Boucher – Director, Tropical Forests and Climate Initiative, Union of Concerned Scientists
- Duncan Marsh – Director, International Climate Policy, The Nature Conservancy
- Emily Figdor – Federal Global Warming Program Director, Environment America
- Eric Bettelheim – Chairman, Sustainable Forestry Management
- Eric Haxthausen – Climate Change Senior Policy Adviser, The Nature Conservancy
- Florence Daviete – Associate, World Resources Institute
- Frank Loy – Former Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs
- Gerrity Lansing – President, Equator Environmental
- Gonzalo Castro – Sustainable Forestry Management
- Greg Janetos – Sustainable Forestry Management
- Greg Minnick – Director, TREES, Rainforest Alliance
- Gustavo Silva-Chávez – Int’l Climate Change Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense
- Helen Howes – Vice President, Environment, Health & Safety, Exelon Corp.
- Holly Fechner – Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
- Howard Gould – Director of Corporate Development, Equator Environmental
- Jacob Scherr – Director, International Programs, Natural Resources Defense Council
- James Baker – Director, Global Carbon Measurement Program, William J. Clinton Foundation
- James Russell – Senior Director, Clinton Climate Initiative, William J. Clinton Foundation
- Jan Hartke – William J. Clinton Foundation
- Jason Scott – Partner and Co-founder, EKO Asset Management Partners
- Jeff Reamy – Manager, Downstream/Environment, ConocoPhillips
- Jeff Waldon – Executive Director, Conservation Management Institute
- Jesse Fink – Co-founder and Managing Director, Mission Point Capital
- Joanna Durbin – Director, Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance
- John Niles – Carbon Conservation
- John Stowell – Vice President, Environmental, Healthy, & Society Policy, Duke Energy Corp.
- John Van D. Lewis – Coordinator, Carbon & Poverty Team, Academy for Educational Development
- Jon Sohn – Vice President-Policy and Market Development, Climate Change Capital
- Jose Rente Nascimento – Senior Natural Resources Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank
- Judy Belk – Senior Vice President, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
- Karen Steuer – Sr. Officer and Dir. Of Government Operations, Pew Environment Group
- Kate Hamilton – Managing Director, Ecosystem Marketplace
- Keister Evans – Executive Director, Tropical Forest Foundation
- Kelly Keenan Aylward – Head of Federal Affairs, Wildlife Conservation Society
- Kyle Danish – Partner, Van Ness Feldman PC
- Laura Ledwith – Director, International Policy & Science, Conservation International
- Lee Stein – Founder and Chair, Prize Capital
- Leslie Durschinger – Principal, Terra Global Capital
- Leslie Jones – General Counsel, The Wilderness Society
- Lisa Handy – Senior Director, Conservation International
- Liz Bernstein – Director, Nobel Women’s Initative
- Lydia Olander – Sr. Associate Dir., Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University
- Marc Paul – Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP
- Mariann Quinn – Director, Environmental Policy, Duke Energy Corp.
- Marisa Meizlish – Manager of Advisory Services, New Forests
- Marisa Uchin – Manager, Federal Government Relations, PG&E Corporation
- Mark Trexler – Managing Director, Global Consulting Services, EcoSecurities
- Marty McBroom – Federal Environmental Affairs, American Electric Power
- Melinda Kimble – Executive Vice President, United Nations Foundation
- Merribel Ayres – President, Lighthouse Consulting Group
- Michael Jenkins – President and CEO, Forest Trends
- Michael Wolosin – Senior Policy Fellow, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
- Nathan Clark – Director of Public Affairs, Construction & Forestry, John Deere
- Nigel Purvis – Visiting Fellow, Resources for the Future
- Paul Ezekiel – Head of Global Carbon Trading, Credit Suisse
- Peter Jenkins – Director of International Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife
- Radha Kuppalli – Director, New Forests, Inc.
- Ralph Ashton – Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists
- Ricardo Bayon – Partner and Co-founder, EKO Asset Management Partners
- Russell LaMotte – Beveridge & Diamond PC
- Sally Ericsson – National Policy Representative, The Pacific Forest Trust
- Scott Settelmyer – Co-founder and Managing Director, TerraCarbon LLC
- Simon Roosevelt – Sagamore Foundation
- Steven Corneli – Vice President, Market and Climate and Policy, NRG Energy, Inc.
- Teresa Heinz – Chair, The Heinz Foundations
- Tracy Johns – Policy Advisor, Woods Hole Research Center
- Wanjira Maathai – The Green Belt Movement
- Wendy Paulson – Chairman of the Board, Rare Conservation
- Wolfgang Ortloff – Director of Environmental Asset Management, Equator Environmental
Note: The list above does not include congressional staffer attendees or members of the media.
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