Jonathan Pershing has been named deputy special envoy for climate change under U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He work alongside U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, who was appointed by Clinton in January as the lead climate negotiator for the U.S.
Pershing has been director of the Climate and Energy Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI), an environmental think tank based in Washington, D.C., for five years.
At WRI, Pershing provided strategic vision for the climate and energy program, which, under his leadership, grew from four to more than 40 people and has a 2009 budget of more than $6.5 million.
‘We have a huge task to do: The change in administration has not solved the problem, but rather, opened a door to the possibility that we can do so,’ says Pershing.
Pershing has served on the California Market Advisory Committee, was the facilitator for the Northeast states' Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and for the Illinois Climate Change Advisory Group, and has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress.
On the international front, he is a regular participant in climate negotiations for the United Nations and was lead author for the recent Nobel-Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report.
Jennifer Layke, formerly Pershing's deputy in WRI's climate and energy program, has been named acting director. She has been leading business and climate change initiatives at WRI since 1997.
SOURCE: World Resources Institute
