Richard J. Marks

Richard J. Marks (born October 30, 1968) is an American journalist, environmentalist, convener and filmmaker whose lens on emerging leadership in environment, energy, and impact investing has drawn upon rising global narratives around the "greening" of corporate America and solutions sectors in the current generation.

Richard J. Marks in Washington D.C.

Career

Marks is a convener, as well as a storyteller and interviewer, of leadership voices in renewable energy, conservation and environmental finance in the United States and China, primarily in the capital cities of Washington DC and Beijing. In 2012, he was the Editor of Washington Life Magazine, and is a published writer.

For the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), Marks has conducted one-on-one interviews with many of the world’s top-ranking leaders in renewable energy finance and policy. “The State of Renewable Energy Finance” was a film produced by Marks, released in 2007, as the first in a multi-year series connecting finance, policy and markets for ACORE. The documentary divulges a pivotal time in which renewable energy finally came "into the mainstream of America’s economy and society,” and was filmed at ACORE’s premier event, REFF-Wall Street: Renewable Energy Finance Forum (now in its 15th year) at the iconic Waldorf Astoria New York. The renewable energy industry continued growing rapidly into maturity in the United States, and Marks produced the official documentary "WIREC 2008".. On March 4-6, 2008, the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) was hosted by the U.S. government – the White House and Departments of State, Energy, Agriculture, Interior, Commerce and EPA, in collaboration with the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE). The film captures key ministerial speeches and interviews with US President George W. Bush; Samuel W. Bodman, U.S. Secretary of Energy; Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary, Democracy and Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Tom Dorr, Under Secretary, Rural Development, USDA; Ed Schafer, Agriculture Secretary, USDA; John Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State; Ambassador Reno Harnish, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State; Viviene Cox, Exec. VP and CEO of Alternative Energy, BP; Andy Karsner, Assistant Secretary, US Department of Energy; Herman, Scheer, President, Eurosolar; and former ACORE President Michael T. Eckhart. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reported that the gathering, which involved nearly 9,000 people from 125 countries, "concluded with more than 140 pledges from governments, international organizations, and private-sector representatives to advance the uptake of renewable energy."

With the advent of the Paris Agreement (guided by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) established in 2015 by the United Nations, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Marks' scope began to include advancements in climate finance, environmental finance, and impact investing. In the field of conservation finance, Marks worked with a team of climate finance experts as senior editorial advisor to investment bank Credit Suisse, resulting in the publication of a 2016 global report "Levering Ecosystems: A Business-Focused Perspective on How Debt Supports Investments in Ecosystem Services" about innovative financial structuring that can benefit the environment.

Two days before the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China, Marks convened the International Earth Forum (IEF) on July 5–6, 2008, in Beijing. China Daily discussed with Marks and IEF co-hosts Sophia A. Trapp and Jing Su why "the younger generation" needs more environment-friendly dialogues. Writing for Newsweek, Jonathan Ansfield's Green Forum: Not So Green Games expressed that the International Earth Forum was newly established in Beijing to "ponder the future of the 'environmental economy' and to consider 'China's prospects of improving a grim environment'". The LinkTV television broadcast about the IEF reported opportunities for "the global community to address China's environmental problems," and "ways to make green business possible and profitable."

In 2007, Marks convened The Green Salon, along with co-founders Mara Haseltine, and Nora Maccoby Hathaway. The Washington Life magazine story "Not Just Another Cocktail Party" reported on clean energy solutions presented at the Green Salon by former CIA director James Woolsey, Rocky Mountain Institute's Amory Lovins, and Stella Group's Scott Sklar. Its sister event, the Blue Salon, was hosted in 2007 by Swedish Gunnar Ambassador Lund at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC. Global water experts, presenting fresh and saltwater solutions, were described in detail by Culture Change's Jan Lundberg. The The Atlantic magazine profile of the May 2010 Blue Salon, co-hosted in New York City by Dr. William A. Haseltine and the New York Academy of Sciences, lists the Waterkeeper Alliance, the Agnès B Tara Oceans Project, the Stella Group, Star Island, Urban Assembly, and New York Harbor School as represented.

Personal Life

Marks attended the Cate School in Carpinteria, California, class of 1986, and earned his BA in Culture, Literature and the Arts (CLA) at the University of Washington Bothell in 1991. His paternal uncle is Marc Lincoln Marks, a former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who served in office from 1977 to 1983.

Selected Filmography

• "Earth Focus 9: International Earth Forum" (Investigative Journalism TV segment), Producer, 2008, LinkTV.
• "WIREC 2008: Washington International Renewable Energy Conference" (Official Film), Producer, 2008, American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE).
• "The State of Renewable Energy Finance" (Official Film), Producer, 2007, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE).
• "Hulk" (Feature Film), Assistant Location Manager, 2003, Universal Pictures.
• "The Majestic" (Feature Film), Assistant Location Manager, 2001, Castle Rock Entertainment.
• "Bicentennial Man" (Feature Film), Location Assistant, 1999, Buena Vista Pictures/Walt Disney Studios.

Boards and Charities

• Board member of Innocents at Risk, a child-advocacy non-profit 501(c)3 organization to battle child trafficking through public-private partnership with the US Department of State, and awareness programs aimed at educating the public.
• President of the Global Committee for the China Children's and Teenager's Fund, a child-advocacy non-profit 501(c)3 organization established to tackle child poverty and education issues in China and other developing countries along the Silk Road route.
• Board member of the Inland Ocean Coalition, an inland movement for land-to-sea stewardship.

External links

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