NRDC Names Renowned Climate Strategist as New International Senior Vice President
WASHINGTON – Yamide Dagnet has been named International Senior Vice President at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). Dagnet will lead the organization’s International Department with significant focus on global environment and climate treaties, and international finance.
“NRDC rightly recognizes the nexus between climate, energy, nature and health--and the need to maximize those synergies to design and implement effective global solutions that address more than just emissions,” said Dagnet. "I am thrilled to join such an organization. I look forward to fostering holistic, intersectional, multilateral and cooperative approaches that boost equitable, green, healthy and resilient outcomes. Growing up on Guadeloupe, I have experienced climate impacts and want to ensure we develop opportunities to build a more resilient and just future for vulnerable communities around the world, while contending with complex and evolving geopolitics.
A trained chemical engineer, Dagnet spent most of her career in research and analysis, policy making, advocacy, and diplomacy. She is a well-known international climate strategist with more than 20 years of experience engaging diverse stakeholders, cultivating partnerships, and empowering vulnerable communities. NRDC has long-focused on domestic climate solutions in the United States, and expanded to work in China and India starting in the 1990s. In her new role, Dagnet will lead strategy for NRDC's International Department to expand its global impact, working with North American and China-based staff and in coordination with NRDC India in Delhi.
Bringing decades of experience as a climate negotiator, Dagnet has served as the director of Climate Negotiations at World Resources Institute, UK policy lead on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UK Deputy Focal Point for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change during Paris Treaty Accord, and represented France in EU twinning negotiations with eastern European countries. Her most recent tenure was in philanthropy, where she raised significant support for climate adaptation projects and efforts to tackle unavoidable losses and damages due to climate change. She also focused on bridging and protecting diverse voices for just, equitable energy and industrial transitions, while also promoting scaled up and more accessible sustainable development and climate finance.
“Yamide is renowned in international climate circles, and you would be hard-pressed to find someone who better understands all sides of global treaty negotiations,” said NRDC President and CEO Manish Bapna. “She has a unique range of experience that will help inform NRDC’s global engagement; injecting bold ideas on how we can deepen our reach, support, and impact with vulnerable communities and countries around the world.”
Dagnet earned a Master in Engineering degree from the University of Technology of Compiegne (France). She will be based in NRDC’s Washington, DC office when she begins later this month.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd). Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.