Jacob Werksman's talk will focus on the international dimensions of EU climate policy, including the Paris Agreement negotiations and the way in which EU climate policies can affect trade and investment flows globally. It is expected that the next Commission will need to defend continued EU leadership on climate change with strategies and policies that ensure the EU can compete and prosper while transitioning to net zero emissions. Mr. Werksman will also focus on the legal dimensions of the EU's responsibilities to prevent dangerous climate change under human rights law, which are relevant to the ethical issues of climate change. This is now before the International Court of Justice in the form of a request for an advisory opinion.
Since 2012, Mr. Jacob Werksman has, served as Principal Adviser to the Directorate General for Climate Action in the European Commission, where his work concentrates on the international aspects of European climate policy. He is Head of Delegation for the EU to the Paris Agreement and Convention on Climate Change. He advises and represents the Commission on the relationship between climate policy and other areas of international law and policy. He supports the EU Commissioner for Climate Action and the European External Action Service in multilateral negotiation relationships with major economies and other international partners.
Werksman is an international lawyer specializing in international environmental law and international economic law. Prior to joining the Commission, he provided legal and policy advice to governments, NGOs and international institutions in the context of the multilateral negotiations on climate change, biosafety and trade. He has taught and published widely on the international legal dimensions of climate policy, including on the design of compliance mechanisms, climate finance and on the relationship between carbon markets and international trade and investment agreements.
Mr. Werksman is currently a visiting professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and has lectured in international environmental and economic law at the masters level at New York University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and at the School of Oriental and African Studies and University College at the University of London. Prior to joining the Commission, he held posts at the World Resources Institute, the Rockefeller Foundation, United Nations Development Programme, and the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD) in London. He holds degrees from Columbia University (A.B.), the University of Michigan (J.D.) and the University of London (LL M.).
Image copyright credit: Carita World Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
