Draft:Roger Martella

Roger Martella is an American environmental, energy and climate change policy expert and the chief sustainability officer and head of global government affairs at GE Vernova. Martella was previously chief sustainability officer at General Electric (GE).

Martella served as General Counsel of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, where he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate.

Early life and education
Martella grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania, working in his family’s corner Italian bakery from youth through his early law career. Martella is a graduate of Cornell University, where he studied environmental science, and holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was Editor in Chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review.

Career
Prior to GE, Martella served as the General Counsel of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Principal Counsel for Complex Litigation for the United States Department of Justice Natural Resources Section, and a trial attorney and Assistant Section Chief for the Justice Department’s Indian Resources Section. Martella also co-led Sidley Austin LLP's global environmental and climate change practices.

Martella teaches International Environmental Law and Justice at Howard University School of Law and serves on the Advisory Board to Harvard University’s Environmental and Energy Law Program. In 2022, the Racial Justice Institute recognized Martella with a Racial Justice Champion Award.

Martella is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), the ClearPath Foundation, the Environmental Law Institute, and other environmental and energy NGOs.

Martella has co-authored and edited four books on the intersection of ESG, climate change law, international environmental law, and human rights:
 * Corporate Social Responsibility—Sustainable Business: Environmental, Social and Governance Frameworks for the 21st Century
 * Ethics and Environmental Practice: A Lawyer's Guide
 * International Environmental Law: The Practitioner's Guide to the Laws of the Planet
 * Model Statute for Proceedings Challenging Government Failure to Act on Climate Change