Daniel Esty

Daniel C. Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University. Esty is the world’s leading expert on corporate environmental strategy. He has advised dozens of companies in a multitude of industries all across the globe on energy, environment, and sustainability issues. His recent prizewinning book, Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, argues that pollution control and natural resource management have become critical elements of marketplace success and explains how leading-edge companies have folded environmental thinking into their core business strategies. Esty speaks from his wealth of experience and boundless research on green business, and explains in clear and compelling terms how companies can obtain an “eco-advantage” in the marketplace.

Leadership and scholarship. Esty holds faculty appointments in both Yale’s environment and law schools. He also serves as the director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (www.yale.edu/envirocenter) and the Center for Business & Environment at Yale (www.yale.edu/CBEY). Before taking up his current position at Yale, Esty was a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, served in a variety of senior positions on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and practiced law in Washington, DC. He is the author or editor of nine books and numerous articles on environmental strategy, policy, governance, and regulation. Mr. Esty comments frequently on environmental issues on television and radio, as well as in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, the New York Times, the Economist, Forbes and Fortune.

Dan Esty spent the 2000–01 academic year as a Visiting Professor at INSEAD, the European business school in Fontainebleau, France. In 2002, Esty received the American Bar Association Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy for “pioneering a data-driven approach to environmental decision making” and developing the global Environmental Sustainability Index. He served four years in his hometown of Cheshire, Connecticut as an elected planning and zoning commissioner.

In 2008, Mr. Esty played a significant role in President Obama’s campaign as an energy/environmental advisor. He served on the Obama Transition Team and has particular insight into the new administration’s thinking and policy direction.

An environmental advisor.  As the chairman of Esty Environmental Partners (www.EstyEP), a corporate environmental strategy group with clients around the world. Esty brings both great insight and a practical, business-like approach to corporate environmental strategy issues. He sits on the board of directors Resources for the Future, and the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, as well as several corporate boards.

Daniel Esty’s expertise covers a myriad of subjects, such as  climate change, carbon markets, the Clean Air Act, energy, trade and the environment, and “next generation” environmental policy. An admired professor, his ease and direction when speaking connects with audiences great and small. His is an informative, engaging presentation that addresses several of the most pressing issues of our time.