WASHINGTON (March 17, 2015)— The World Resources Institute announced today that Paul Bodnar will join the organization as a senior advisor for WRI's Sustainable Finance Center. Bodnar will help lead the Finance Center’s work on climate finance technical analysis, strategy and policy. Most recently, Bodnar served at the White House as director for Climate Change and Environment at the National Security Council.

“Paul brings an impressive range of experiences that have increased funding to respond to climate change in the public and private climate finance realms,” said Athena Ballesteros, director of the Finance Center. “We are excited to have him as part of the Finance Center, so we can further advance sustainability within development finance institutions. 2015 will be a major year for climate finance and we welcome Paul’s leadership on these issues.”

During his tenure at the White House, Bodnar helped coordinate the historic U.S.-China climate deal announced by President Obama and President Xi in November 2014, the $3 billion U.S. pledge to the Green Climate Fund, and President Obama’s participation in the UN Climate Summit in New York.

Previously, Bodnar served at the State Department as director for Climate Finance and counselor to Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern. He also has experience as U.S. lead negotiator for climate finance in the UNFCCC, where he helped design a number of pioneering initiatives including the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, U.S. policy to end public financing for coal power plants overseas, U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative, and the pay-for-performance approach used in the World Bank's Pilot Auction Facility for Methane and Climate Mitigation.

Earlier in his career, Bodnar worked at London-based fund manager Climate Change Capital, where he managed large project finance transactions as director for Carbon Finance. He was also co-founder and partner at Vertis Environmental Finance. Bodnar is a Truman Scholar, and holds degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University.

“WRI is at the forefront of analytical work aimed at pragmatic problem-solving in international climate finance,” said Bodnar. “I'm delighted to join the team at such an important time in the global climate change negotiations—and I hope to help mobilize the global community toward an ambitious climate agreement later this year.”

Bodnar will help advance WRI’s efforts to shift investments towards low-carbon, climate-resilient development. Leading up to climate conference in Paris, Bodnar will guide the Finance Center’s research on the global climate finance architecture by examining how the diverse array of climate funds operate and interact, and identifying potential guidance on improving their effectiveness.

WRI’s Finance Center provides data, analysis, and tools to increase public and private investment in sustainable activities. The Finance Center works with global public institutions, governments, civil society, and the private sector to promote green growth and align global financial flows with sustainability and development goals. In addition to climate finance, the Finance Center houses initiatives on environmental and social safeguards on investments in emerging economies, and accessibility and effectiveness of climate finance in developing countries.

For more information on WRI’s Finance Center visit: http://www.wri.org/our-work/topics/finance