Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Senior Director of McLarty Associates and former Senior Advisor to US Envoy for Climate Change, John Kerry, discusses COP27, the annual United Nations conference on climate change, held in Egypt in November 2022. Ambassador Blake addresses the need for greater institutionalization of climate diplomacy at the State Department, the role of the private sector, and an Indonesian project to transition from coal to green energy.
Following Ambassador Blake's initial remarks, he is joined by a panel of Duke experts for further discussion:
Jackson Ewing, Senior Fellow, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability; Adjunct Associate Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment
Jonathan Phillips, Director, James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at Duke
Erika Weinthal, Professor of Environmental Policy and Public Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
Gabriela Nagle Alverio, J.D./Ph.D. student, University Program in Environmental Policy
Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions during the event.
About the Speaker:
Ambassador Blake served for 31 years in the State Department in a wide range of leadership positions. From 2013-2016, he served as the US Ambassador to Indonesia, where he focused on building stronger business and educational ties between the US and Indonesia, while also developing cooperation to help Indonesia reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to be Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, serving from 2009-2013, for which he was awarded the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award. From 2006-2009, he served concurrently as US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in India from 2003-2006, where he was named the worldwide DCM of the Year by the State Department.
Most recently, Ambassador Blake has held a wide variety of key State Department positions as well, including Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 2001-2003, Deputy Executive Secretary for the Department of State from 2000-2001, and Senior Desk Officer responsible for economic and political relations with Turkey from 1998-2000. He has also served in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria.
He is currently Chairman of the Board of the US-Indonesia Society, and he is a member of the board of the Asia Foundation and the Bhutan Foundation.
Ambassador Blake holds a BA from Harvard College, and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.
This webinar is part of a Duke University's Rethinking Diplomacy (RDP) series on climate diplomacy. The event is organized in collaboration with Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability; James E. Rogers Energy Access Project; and Sanford School of Public Policy.
This event is aligned with the goals of the Duke Climate Commitment, which unites the university's education, research, operations and public service missions to address the climate crisis.
Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Senior Director of McLarty Associates and former Senior Advisor to US Envoy for Climate Change, John Kerry, discusses COP27, the annual United Nations conference on climate change, held in Egypt in November 2022. Ambassador Blake addresses the need for greater institutionalization of climate diplomacy at the State Department, the role of the private sector, and an Indonesian project to transition from coal to green energy.
Following Ambassador Blake's initial remarks, he is joined by a panel of Duke experts for further discussion:
Jackson Ewing, Senior Fellow, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability; Adjunct Associate Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment
Jonathan Phillips, Director, James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at Duke
Erika Weinthal, Professor of Environmental Policy and Public Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
Gabriela Nagle Alverio, J.D./Ph.D. student, University Program in Environmental Policy
Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions during the event.
About the Speaker:
Ambassador Blake served for 31 years in the State Department in a wide range of leadership positions. From 2013-2016, he served as the US Ambassador to Indonesia, where he focused on building stronger business and educational ties between the US and Indonesia, while also developing cooperation to help Indonesia reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to be Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, serving from 2009-2013, for which he was awarded the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award. From 2006-2009, he served concurrently as US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in India from 2003-2006, where he was named the worldwide DCM of the Year by the State Department.
Most recently, Ambassador Blake has held a wide variety of key State Department positions as well, including Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 2001-2003, Deputy Executive Secretary for the Department of State from 2000-2001, and Senior Desk Officer responsible for economic and political relations with Turkey from 1998-2000. He has also served in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria.
He is currently Chairman of the Board of the US-Indonesia Society, and he is a member of the board of the Asia Foundation and the Bhutan Foundation.
Ambassador Blake holds a BA from Harvard College, and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.
This webinar is part of a Duke University's Rethinking Diplomacy (RDP) series on climate diplomacy. The event is organized in collaboration with Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability; James E. Rogers Energy Access Project; and Sanford School of Public Policy.
This event is aligned with the goals of the Duke Climate Commitment, which unites the university's education, research, operations and public service missions to address the climate crisis.
