CAMBRIDGE, MA - Nathaniel Keohane, a former Pre-Doctoral Fellow of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program (HEEP), was named the new President of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) on May 24, 2021. He will assume that role on July 1.
Nat received his Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University in 2001. He has been a member of the faculty of the Yale School of Management, served as Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Environment under former President Barack Obama, and – for the last nine years – has served in senior positions with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). For the last three years, Nat has been EDF’s Senior Vice President for Climate. Nat will succeed Bob Perciasepe, who has served as C2ES President for the last seven years and who was previously Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2009 – 2014).
Robert Stavins, HEEP Director, A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development at Harvard Kennedy School, and among Nat’s faculty advisors during his doctoral studies, said of the appointment: “C2ES is one the world’s leading organizations addressing climate change – through informed policy analysis, thoughtful advocacy, and a unique program facilitating informal discussions among international climate negotiators aimed at airing and helping resolve outstanding issues ahead of the annual UN climate talks. Nat has a rare combination of academic background, leadership skills and experience, and deep insight into the way the world works, making him the perfect choice to lead C2ES and take the organization to the next level.”
Nat has participated in several research workshops organized by HEEP and the closely-affiliated Harvard Project on Climate Agreements over the last 13 years. Most recently, he was a participant in an online workshop addressing China’s national greenhouse-gas emissions-trading system, hosted by the Harvard Project and Tsinghua University’s Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, in October 2020.
On April 30, 2021, Nat was the featured guest in the Harvard Project’s webinar series, Conversations on Climate Change and Energy Policy, hosted by Professor Stavins. A recording (and transcript) of that conversation is available here.
For more information on Nat’s appointment, see C2ES’s press release here.