UCLA Law Experts and New Methane-tracking Initiative Announced at COP30
As the COP30 climate summit in Belém heads into its final week, negotiators are focusing on forest protection, climate finance, clean-energy geopolitics, and the rapidly shifting balance of global climate leadership. UCLA School of Law faculty remain available to provide expert insight and context for journalists covering the conference.
This update adds two experts: William Boyd, whose work in Brazil connects directly to high-level deforestation and forest-governance discussions at COP30; and Alex Wang, a leading scholar of China’s clean-technology strategy and global environmental diplomacy. This update also includes news from the UCLA Emmett Institute, which this week launched a major methane-tracking initiative at COP30.
Individual contact information provided below, or write media@law.ucla.edu, Carl Marziali at carl@lindavistapr.com, Geoffrey Baum at geoff@lindavistapr.com, or Evan George, UCLA School of Law Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment, (323) 877-8404 | george@law.ucla.edu.
China, Clean Technology, Global Environmental Strategy
“The rise of China as the clean energy superpower and the ambitions of a country like Saudi Arabia show that the U.S. is thinking small. The Trump administration seems to be thinking about the next three years while rival nations are thinking about the next three decades." —Alex Wang
Alex Wang, Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law, is an expert on China’s industrial policy, clean-technology deployment, and environmental diplomacy. His forthcoming book, Chinese Global Environmentalism (Cambridge Elements, 2025), analyzes China’s use of green development, diplomacy, and economic statecraft to reshape global climate politics.
Wang is available to discuss China and how clean-tech competition is reshaping global climate negotiations. Contact: alex.wang@law.ucla.edu
Deforestation, Tropical Forest Governance, Climate Finance
“The Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force is getting larger every year and our voices are getting louder.” —William Boyd
William Boyd, Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law, is a leading authority on global forest governance and co-leads the Governors’ Climate and Forests (GCF) Task Force, a coalition of 45 subnational jurisdictions across the Amazon, Indonesia, Mexico, and other forest regions. The GCF Task Force has been embedded in Brazil throughout 2025, convening governors, ministers, and forest-region leaders in the run-up to COP30 and contributing to discussions surrounding Brazil’s emerging Tropical Forest Forever Facility.
Boyd can speak to trends in tropical deforestation, subnational climate diplomacy, forest finance mechanisms featured at COP30, and the “new forest economy” emerging across Amazonian states. Contact: boyd@law.ucla.edu.
Global Methane Super-Polluter Rankings
“The goal of our rankings is to help turn that data into action to reduce methane emissions.” —Cara Horowitz
The UCLA Emmett Institute launched STOP Methane, a new global ranking of super-polluting methane emissions across the oil and gas and waste sectors. Unveiled at COP30, the project provides the first user-friendly, public-facing lists of extreme methane emitters detected by space-based instruments, including Planet Labs’ Tanager-1 satellite and NASA’s EMIT instrument.
The STOP Methane “Top 25 in ’25” lists provide the highest hourly methane emission rates observed globally in 2025, spotlighting more than 3,100 plumes at nearly 2,000 oil and gas sites and more than 1,800 emissions events across 600 waste sites worldwide.
Contact: Evan George, george@law.ucla.edu.
Clean Air Regulations and the Tension Between U.S., California and International Policies
“One big question is whether Gavin Newsom can blunt the wholesale assault Trump has unleashed on all things climate.” —Ann Carlson
Ann Carlson is the Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law, founding director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and a former acting administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She is an expert on clean air regulations and author of the forthcoming Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up its Air.
With respect to COP30, she can discuss the effect on international policies of the Trump administration's pressure to revert to fossil fuels, as well as the counterbalancing influence, nationally and internationally, of California and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Contact: carlson@law.ucla.edu.
A World Agreement Minus the World’s Largest Historical Emitter
“This COP will give us a peek at how the Paris Agreement may function in a world where the U.S. has walked away from any responsibility to make progress on climate change — and, indeed, is headed backwards on climate.” —Cara Horowitz
Cara Horowitz is a UCLA environmental law expert and executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law. She can explain how U.N. climate conferences like COP30 work and what is — and isn’t — on the agenda for negotiations this year. Contact: horowitz@law.ucla.edu.
Regional Governments Aim To Fill the Void in National Leadership
“With climate action stalling at the national level in many parts of the world, leadership at the subnational level is more important than ever. States, provinces and governors themselves will be on the ground in Belém contributing to panels, side events and other discussions. Governors want to highlight shovel-ready investment opportunities to build more sustainable, new forest economies.” —Jason Gray
Jason Gray is an environmental law expert and project director of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force, a project of the Emmett Institute. He can explain Brazil’s proposal of a Tropical Forests Forever Facility — a financial tool to conserve tropical forests — and the contributions of subnational governments and Indigenous leaders to negotiations at forums such as COP30. Contact: gray@law.ucla.edu.
When CO2 Reductions Are Not Enough
Edward (Ted) Parson is the Distinguished Dan and Rae Emmett Professor of Environmental Law and faculty director of the Emmett Institute. Parson is the world’s leading expert on legal and governance issues raised by climate engineering technologies, including geoengineering and Earth system interventions. He also specializes in the emerging opportunities to address global warming by reducing emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
He has worked and consulted for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress and the U.N. Environment Programme, among others. Contact: parson@law.ucla.edu.
Additional UCLA Law Experts
UCLA School of Law faculty are available to comment on a wide range of international and domestic legal issues shaping the current political landscape, including international law and the law of armed conflict, presidential and executive power, foreign relations law, election regulation, constitutional law, and federal–state relations.
Media Contacts: media@law.ucla.edu
Carl Marziali carl@lindavistapr.com
Geoffrey Baum geoff@lindavistapr.com