Jennifer Morgan (activist)

Jennifer Morgan (born April 21, 1966) is an American German environmental activist specializing in climate change policy. Since 2022, she has been serving as special representative for international climate policy of the Federal Foreign Office in Germany under minister Annalena Baerbock.

Jennifer Morgan
Special representative for International climate policy, German Federal Foreign Office
Assumed office
TBA
Appointed byAnnalena Baerbock
ChancellorOlaf Scholz
Preceded byOffice established
Personal details
Born
Jennifer Morgan

(1966-04-21) April 21, 1966 (age 58)
Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican, German
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Environmental activist

From 2016 to 2022 Morgan led the environmental protection organization Greenpeace International together with Bunny McDiarmid.[1]

Early life and education

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Morgan was born to a bank clerk and a nurse in Ridgewood, New Jersey. After school she studied political science and German from 1988 at Indiana University Bloomington. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She then transferred to the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. and studied International Relations there. She earned a Master of Arts.

Career

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Early beginnings

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From 1994 to 1996 Morgan served as coordinator for the US section of the Climate Action Network. She then directed WWF's Global Climate Change Program from 1998 to 2006. She then worked as Global Climate Change Director for the think tank E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism) from 2006 to 2009. From 2009 to 2016, she worked as Global Director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute.

Greenpeace, 2016–2022

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From April 2016 Morgan served as executive director of Greenpeace International, together with Bunny McDiarmid.

In addition to these full-time tasks, Morgan worked during the German EU Council Presidency in 2007 in the advisory board of the Federal Government under the direction of the climate researcher Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and supported the Breaking the Climate Deadlock initiative of the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair since 2008. She also worked as a review editor on a chapter of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report and was a member of the German government's Council for Sustainable Development (Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung). From 2010 to 2017 she was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and is an honorary member of Germanwatch.

During that time, Morgan was a regular participant at United Nations Climate Change conferences.[2][3]

Germany climate envoy, 2022–present

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On February 8, 2022, it was announced that Morgan was to be appointed to the Federal Republic of Germany's Federal Foreign Office as a special representative for international climate policy. To do this, however, she had to acquire German citizenship, which she did on February 28, 2022.[citation needed] Her superior Annalena Baerbock formulated great expectations when she was appointed in February 2022, saying "as the helmsman, Jennifer Morgan will steer our climate foreign policy, expand partnerships with other countries around the world and conduct dialogue with civil society worldwide."[4]

Morgan, along with Maisa Rojas, led the working group at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference that came up with an agreement on loss and damage finance.[5][6]

Bibliography

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Selected articles

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References

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  1. ^ "Kabinett macht bisherige Greenpeace-Chefin zur Klimabeauftragten". www.zeit.de. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  2. ^ Morgan, Jennifer (November 3, 2021). "Cop26's worst outcome would be giving the green light to carbon offsetting". The Guardian. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  3. ^ International, Greenpeace (November 7, 2021). "Saudi Arabian negotiators move to cripple COP26 – Greenpeace response". Greenpeace.org. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  4. ^ tagesschau.de. "Von Greenpeace ins Auswärtige Amt: Klimakampf auf der anderen Seite". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  5. ^ Letter to Parties and Observers, 16 November 2022 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
  6. ^ Jake Spring and Valerie Volcovici (7 December 2022), After U.N. climate deal, 'loss and damage' funding two years off Reuters.