Durwood Zaelke is founder and President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) in Washington, DC and Geneva, where he focuses on fast-action mitigation strategies for protecting the climate, including strengthening the Montreal Protocol by phasing out production and consumption of HFCs with high global warming potential, as well as reducing air pollution and other short-live climate pollutants (black carbon, tropospheric ozone, and methane), which collectively can cut the rate of global warming in half and the rate of warming in the Arctic by two-thirds. IGSD’s fast-action mitigation program was first described in Mario Molina, Durwood Zaelke, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Stephen O. Andersen, & Donald Kaniaru (2009), Reducing abrupt climate change risk using the Montreal Protocol and other regulatory actions to complement cuts in CO₂ emissions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA).

Mr. Zaelke is also co-founder and co-Director of the Program on Governance for Sustainable Development at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara. He was co-founder and President of the Center for International Environmental Law in Washington, DC and Geneva (1989-2003); co-founder and board member (1989-2004) of the Foundation for International Environmental Law & Development in London (formerly CIEL-UK); founder and director (1990-2004) of the International & Comparative Environmental Law Program at the Washington College of Law, American University; founder and director (1988-89) of the International Program at Earth Justice (formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund); director of the Alaska and DC office of the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (1980-89); co-founder of the Policy, Legislation & Special Litigation Section, and founder of the Energy Conservation Section (disbanded by a subsequent administration), both in the Environmental Division of the Justice Department (1978-80). He also was a partner in Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel & Mason, a national litigation firm (2003-2015), and Director of the Secretariat for the International Network for Environmental Compliance & Enforcement (2001-2015).

Mr. Zaelke currently co-teaches Climate Justice at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.  He also has taught at Yale Law School, Duke Law School’s Brussel’s program, Johns Hopkins University, and American University’s Washington School of Law, including in their program in Paris and Geneva, which he co-founded.  He is a graduate of Duke Law School (1972), where he was an Editor of the Duke Law Journal, and UCLA (1969), and member of the bar in California, Washington, DC, and Alaska. Mr. Zaelke received both an Ozone Protection Award and a Climate Protection Award in 2008 for his contribution to the successful effort to maximize the climate benefits of the Montreal Protocol. He is the author of the leading textbook on International Environmental Law & Policy (Foundation Press 5th ed., 2015) (with Hunter & Salzman). He also is the author or editor of several other books and articles including:

• David G. Victor, Durwood Zaelke, Veerabhadran Ramanathan (2015), Soot and short-lived pollutants provide political opportunity, Nature Climate Change
• Nathan Borgford-Parnell, Maxime Beaugrand, Durwood Zaelke, & Stephen O. Andersen (2015), Phasing down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), in Seizing the Global Opportunity, a report from the New Climate Economy
• Durwood Zaelke & Nathan Borgford-Parnell (2015), The importance of phasing down hydrofluorocarbons and other short-lived climate pollutants, J. Environmental Studies Sciences
• Yangyang Xu, Durwood Zaelke, Guus J. M. Velders, & Veerabhadran Ramanathan (2013), The role of HFCs in mitigating 21st century climate change, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Yangyang Xu & Durwood Zaelke (2013), Unpacking the Problem, UNEP Our Planet: The Future Is Priceless
• Mario Molina & Durwood Zaelke (2013), A comprehensive approach for reducing anthropogenic climate impacts including risk of abrupt climate changes, Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene, Proceedings of the Working Group, 2-4 April 2011, Paul J. Crutzen, Lennart Bengtsson, & Veerabhadran Ramanathan (eds) (Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Scripta Varia 118)
• Durwood Zaelke, Stephen O. Andersen, & Nathan Borgford-Parnell (2012), Strengthening Ambition for Climate Mitigation: The Role of the Montreal Protocol in Reducing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, Review of European Compliance & International Environmental Law 21(3)
• Mario Molina & Durwood Zaelke (2012), A Climate Success Story to Build On, UNEP OzonAction, Protecting our atmosphere for generations to come: 25 years of the Montreal Protocol
• Mario Molina, A. R. Ravishankara, & Durwood Zaelke (2011), At the crossroads, UNEP Our Planet: Powering Climate Solutions
• K. Madhava Sarma, Stephen O. Andersen, Durwood Zaelke, & Kristen Taddonio (2009), Ozone Layer, International Protection, in R. Wolfrum (ed.), The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 2008-2012), online edition
• Mario Molina, Durwood Zaelke, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Stephen O. Andersen, & Donald Kaniaru (2009), Reducing abrupt climate change risk using the Montreal Protocol and other regulatory actions to complement cuts in CO₂ emissions, Proceedings of the National. Academy of Sciences. USA. 106(49)
• K. Madhava Sarma & Durwood Zaelke (2008), Start, then Strengthen: The Importance of Immediate Action for Climate Mitigation, IISD’s MEA Bulletin
• Zaelke, Kaniaru, & Kruíková, Making Law Work: Environmental Compliance & Sustainable Development (2006) (two-volume analysis of the best literature on compliance and enforcement)
• Stephen O. Andersen & Durwood Zaelke, Industry Genius: Inventions and People Protecting the Climate and Fragile Ozone Layer, (Greenleaf UK, 2003)

 

Mr. Zaelke also is the author or co-author of several Op-Ed’s, including:

• The Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & Paul Bledsoe, “How President Obama Became the World’s Leading Climate Champion” (9 June 2016)
• The Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke, “G7 Leaders Commit to Cut Near-Term Warming by Reducing HFCs, Other Super Pollutants” (1 June 2016)
• The Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke, Nigel Purvis, & Paul Bledsoe, “Nordic Summit Must Help Tame Climate” (12 May 2016)
• USA Today, Op-Ed, Mario Molina, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, & Durwood Zaelke, “Paris deal’s carbon cuts miss critical warming target” (22 April 2016)
• Council on Foreign Relations, Mario Molina & Durwood Zaelke, “Cutting Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Can Give Quick Wins on Warming” (7 Dec 2015)
• The Huffington Post, Veerabhadran Ramanathan & Durwood Zaelke, “Reducing Climate Injustice to the Poor Is Within Our Reach” (21 Sept 2015)
• The Huffington Post, Durwood Zaelke, “Celebrating the Best Climate Treaty of All Time” (15 Sept 2015)
• Alaska Dispatch News, Durwood Zaelke, “Controlling greenhouse gases besides CO2 could make quick progress on global warming” (26 Aug 2015)
• San Diego Tribune, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & Veerabhadran Ramanathan, “Responding to Pope Francis’ call for environmental change” (8 July 2015)

• The Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & Veerabhadran Ramanathan, “The Path to a Safe Climate Goes Through India” (21 Jan 2015)
• The Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Romina Picolotti, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, & Durwood Zaelke, “3 Climate Lessons from Lima”    (14 Dec 2014)
• Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Mario Molina, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, & Durwood Zaelke, “A Development-Savvy Climate Strategy for India” (29 Sept 2014)
• The Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Mario Molina, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, & Durwood Zaelke, “As Climate Impacts Accelerate, Speed of Mitigation Becomes Key” (15 July 2014)
• The Huffington Post, Op-Ed, Nithya Ramanathan, Durwood Zaelke, & Veerabhadran Ramanathan, “Bringing Climate Solutions Down to Earth” (7 June 2014)
• The Hill, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & Paul Bledsoe, “Effective climate agreements: past, present and future” (15 April 2014)
• E!Sharp, Op-Ed, David Newman & Durwood Zaelke, “Waste not, warm less” (9 Dec 2013)
• Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & P. Bledsoe, “Climate policy’s twin challenges’ (16 Aug 2013)
• Roll Call, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & Paul Bledsoe, “India Can Join the U.S. and China to Cut Super Greenhouse Gases” (20 June 2013)
• The Hill, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & Paul Bledsoe, “A climate victory waiting for presidents Obama and Xi” (6 June 2013)
• The New York Times, Op-Ed, Durwood Zaelke & Veerabhadran Ramanathan, “Going Beyond Carbon Dioxide” (7 Dec 2012)
• The International New York Times, Op-Ed, Mario Molina & Durwood Zaelke, “A Climate Success Story to Build On” (26 Sept 2012)