Jacob Werksman

Jacob Werksman has, since 2012, served as Principal Adviser to Directorate General for Climate Action in the European Commission, where his work focuses on the international aspects of European climate policy. He is Head of Delegation for the European Union to the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and 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 negotiations and in strengthening bilateral relationships between the EU, major economies and other international partners.

Werksman is an international lawyer, specializing in international environmental law and international economic law. Prior joining the Commission, he provided legal and policy advice to developed and developing country 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.

Werksman is currently 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. Werksman holds degrees from Columbia University (A.B.), the University of Michigan (J.D.) and the University of London (LL M.).