John Cole

John Cole has worked in the climate area for the last 18 years as a lawyer, academic, businessperson and official NGO observer. In 2006 John left private law practice to co-found Southreach Limited, a project development consulting company advising European and Japanese multinationals on the establishment of regulated carbon credit projects through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism. Southreach sold its Latin American operations in 2012, but John continues to work with clients on ongoing projects in the Asia/Pacific region.

John holds a doctorate in Environmental & Energy Policy and an M.Sc. in Environmental Change, both from the University of Oxford, law degrees from Vanderbilt University and the University of Melbourne (Australia), an MBA from the University of Michigan and an MA (Theology) from the University of Notre Dame. At Oxford John also taught Environmental Policy to undergraduates and conducted business-oriented project development seminars for graduate students in the Oxford University Centre for the Environment. He has published peer-reviewed academic articles on sustainable development in the context of climate change in Climate & Development, Carbon Management, International Environmental Agreements, Environmental Science & Policy, McGill International Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy and Carbon & Climate Law Review and has co-authored published opinion pieces in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change and Ambio.