"If we don’t fix climate change, all the development advances that we have achieved will go backwards again."

Janos Pasztor is a leading figure in international climate governance, with close to five decades of experience in energy, environment, and climate change policy. He retired in 2023 after a career spent shaping global responses to climate change, including the governance of emerging technologies such as carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation modification.

From 2016 to 2023, he was Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G). Earlier, he served as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change and Senior Advisor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and held senior roles at WWF-International. His UN career also included leading the Secretary-General's Climate Change Support Team, serving as Executive Secretary of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, and working for many years at the UNFCCC Secretariat.

"[I have] deep gratitude for Mr. Pasztor’s dedicated service and leadership" — Ban Ki-moon