Daphne Wysham is the Executive Director of This Land. Daphne is also a fellow at the Center for Sustainable Economy (CSE) where, together with CSE’s chief economist, John Talberth, she pioneered a new policy that is forcing the polluter to pay for the risks now externalized on frontline communities, the public sector and the climate, “fossil fuel risk bonds.” Enabling legislation has been passed for fossil fuel risk bonds in Multnomah County, OR, and a risk analysis was completed in 2021. King County, WA, commissioners passed an ordinance in 2023, the first county in the U.S. to do so. Washington State passed HB 1691 in 2022 as a first step toward implementing a fossil fuel risk bond program. Fossil fuel risk bonds are also under consideration in other jurisdictions and Congress. Read more here.
Daphne also serves as Chief Executive Officer of Methane Action. Daphne spent 20 years as a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington, DC, where she founded and directed IPS’s climate justice program and served on the executive committee of the IPS board of directors. Her team’s groundbreaking research drew attention to disproportionate fossil fuel investments by the World Bank and other international financial institutions, prompting leaders including former Vice President Al Gore and members of the US House and Senate to call for reforms. Ultimately the World Bank phased out its fossil fuel lending. Daphne also co-founded the Durban Group for Climate Justice.
Born and raised in India and the Pacific Northwest, she serves on the board of Friends of the Earth-Nigeria. Some of her research and publications can be found here.
Follow her on Blue Sky Social and on LinkedIn here.
