Richard ‘Tad’ Ferris is Senior Counsel at IGSD, where he leads governance work on non-CO2 super climate pollutants, including methane (CH4), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Tad is also IGSD’s acting General Counsel. Tad has over three decades of experience as an international environmental and climate lawyer focusing on treaties, compliance, developing-country legal systems, and global public affairs. His legal work and leadership have focused on bridging the national understanding of environmental legal systems and strengthening protections for vulnerable populations, including IGSD’s campaign to prevent environmentally harmful product dumping. This also includes building NGO, government, multilateral-organization, and private-sector coalitions aimed at sustainability, climate, health, and regulatory compliance leadership.
Tad holds a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies, a Master’s degree in Comparative and International Law, and a Juris Doctor degree. Tad serves in numerous multilateral, academic, and public-interest organization advisory roles, including as a member of the Board of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Climate & Clean Air Coalition, the Duke University School of Law International Advisory Board, and the International Nitrogen Network (iN-NET) Governance Working Group. He is a member of the bar in Washington, DC, and Massachusetts. Tad is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English.
Latest Resources
- Ferris, R. (2025), Preventing the Dumping in Vulnerable Developing-Country Markets of Inefficient Cooling Equipment Using Obsolete Refrigerants: A Resource Guide (Also available on the Climate & Clean Air Coalition website).
- Fajardo, V., Zalke, D., Hull, A., Dreyfus, G., Sun, X., Ferris, R., and Miller, J. (2024), Primer on Anthropogenic Nitrous Oxide: The Last Significant Ozone-Depleting Substance and Greenhouse Gas Not Regulated by the Montreal Protocol.
- Sun, X., Ferris, R., and Fajardo, V. (2024), China’s Ongoing Efforts to Address Methane Emissions and Opportunities to Further Raise China’s Methane Mitigation Ambition.
