University of New Haven
Model United Nations
Barbara Finamore
Senior Visiting Research Fellow
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
Barbara Finamore is a senior leader and environmental advocate with over four decades of experience in environmental law and clean energy policy. In 1996, she founded the China Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the first clean energy program launched in China by an international NGO. She helped to develop China’s first energy codes for residential and commercial buildings, first research and development program for fuel cell vehicles, first utility-based initiative for energy conservation, and first nationwide emission control regulations for the shipping industry.
Ms. Finamore has served as the Senior Strategic Director for Asia at NRDC, the President and Chair of the Professional Association for China's Environment (PACE), and the co-founder and President of the China-U.S. Energy Innovation Alliance. Ms. Finamore also worked for the U.S. Departments of Justice and Interior, the United Nations Development Programme, and the
Center for International Environmental Law. She is currently a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
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In 2017, Ms. Finamore was named a member of Foreign Policy’s “The U.S.-China 50”, a group of 50 individuals who are powering the world's most complex and consequential relationship. She is the author of “Will China Save the Planet?” (Polity Press). Ms. Finamore holds a J.D. degree with honors from Harvard Law School.