The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong,its first director,after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972. Its mandate is to provide leadership,deliver science and develop solutions on a wide range of issues,including climate change,the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems,and green economic development. The organization also develops international environmental agreements;publishes and promotes environmental science and helps national governments achieve environmental targets.
Timothy Endicott Wirth is an American politician from Colorado who served as a Democrat in both the United States Senate (1987–1993) and the United States House of Representatives (1975–1987). He also served in several appointed roles in government,including as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education during the Nixon Administration and Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs for the U.S. State Department during the Clinton Administration. From 1998 to 2013,he served as the president of the United Nations Foundation,and currently sits on the Foundation's board.
Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun,also sometimes Moseley-Braun,is an American diplomat,politician,and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. Prior to her Senate tenure,Moseley Braun was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1979 to 1988 and served as Cook County Recorder of Deeds from 1988 to 1992. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992 after defeating Senator Alan J. Dixon in a Democratic primary. Moseley Braun served one term in the Senate and was defeated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald in 1998.
David A. Anderson,is a former Canadian cabinet minister.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council,chartered in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST was established by Executive Order 13226 on September 30,2001,by George W. Bush,was re-chartered by Barack Obama's April 21,2010,Executive Order 13539,by Donald Trump's October 22,2019,Executive Order 13895,by Joe Biden's February 1,2021,Executive Order 14007 and by Donald Trump again on January 23,2025 with Executive Order XXXXX.
Melissa A. Hoffer is an American environmental lawyer currently serving as the Climate Chief of Massachusetts,the first to hold a seat of this kind in the country. Hoffer previously worked in the Attorney General of Massachusetts' office,the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF),and WilmerHale. She was a "day one" appointee to President Joe Biden's cabinet as Principal Deputy General Counsel and Acting General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency. As a lawyer,she headed cases including Boumediene v. Bush and Commonwealth v. Exxon Mobil Corp. She believes in a "whole-of-government approach" to climate change and that environmental issues should not be isolated to a single government department.
David J. Hayes is an American attorney and legal scholar who serves in the Biden Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy. Hayes has led White House work on clean energy deployment issues,climate resilience and greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon sequestration initiatives. Hayes also has assisted in developing and implementing the climate-related provisions included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The climate change policy of the United States has major impacts on global climate change and global climate change mitigation. This is because the United States is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world after China,and is among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person in the world. Cumulatively,the United States has emitted over a trillion metric tons of greenhouse gases,more than any country in the world.
Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón is a Dominican Republic-born American attorney and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 2022 to 2024. Prior to her service as ambassador she was the chief of staff to First Lady Jill Biden. She formerly served as a litigation and international arbitration partner with the international law firm Winston &Strawn LLP. She was previously a partner with Chadbourne &Parke LLP,practicing in the firm's International Arbitration and Latin America groups. Reynoso is also affiliated with the faculty at Columbia University School of Law and the School of International and Public Affairs. From March 2012 until December 2014,she served as United States Ambassador to Uruguay. She is a former deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the United States Department of State. President Biden nominated her to be the next United States Ambassador to Spain on July 27,2021,being confirmed on December 18,2021.
Regina McCarthy is an American air quality expert who served as the first White House national climate advisor from 2021 to 2022. She previously served as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017.
Ann E. Carlson is an American attorney and legal scholar who served as the acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from September 2022 to December 2023. Before joining the Biden administration,Carlson was the Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at the UCLA School of Law,where she also served as faculty co-director of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment. She is an expert on U.S. environmental law and policy with a particular focus on climate change and environmental federalism. Biden administration withdrew her from nomination in May 2023.
The contributions of women in climate change have received increasing attention in the early 21st century. Feedback from women and the issues faced by women have been described as "imperative" by the United Nations and "critical" by the Population Reference Bureau. A report by the World Health Organization concluded that incorporating gender-based analysis would "provide more effective climate change mitigation and adaptation."
Monica P. Medina is an American attorney and government official who previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the Department of State. Medina served as Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere,deputy associate attorney general,and general counsel of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She was also the U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission. She is currently President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Brenda Mallory is an American lawyer specializing in environmental law who served as the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2025. She previously served as director of regulatory policy at the Southern Environmental Law Center,and helped lead the Climate 21 Project.
Janet Garvin McCabe is an American attorney and academic who served as the deputy administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from April 29,2021 to October 4,2024.
The environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration includes a series of laws,regulations,and programs introduced by United States President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025. Many of the actions taken by the Biden administration reversed or attempted to reverse the first-term policies of his predecessor,Donald Trump.
Marisa Lago is an American attorney who served as the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade from 2021 to 2025. She previously served as director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission from 2017 to 2021. Before that,Lago served as assistant secretary for international markets and development in the United States Department of the Treasury from 2010 to 2017,and as president and chief executive officer of the Empire State Development Corporation from 2008 to 2009.
Meredith Ashley Berger is an American government official who had served as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy,Installations,and Environment. From August 25,2021,until April 13,2022,she concurrently served as the designated official performing the duties of the United States Under Secretary of the Navy.
Richard G. Newell is an American energy economist,environmental economist,and climate policy expert who served as the seventh administrator of the United States Energy Information Administration from 2009 to 2011. He is currently the president and CEO of Resources for the Future,a nonprofit environmental economics research and policy institute in Washington,D.C. He has previously served as Senior Economist for Energy and Environment on the President's Council of Economic Advisers and as Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics at Duke University.
