Paula DiPerna is an author, and strategic global environmental and philanthropic policy advisor. Regarded as a pioneer in environmental finance, she is a frequent public speaker, media commentator, guest lecturer, and panelist. DiPerna currently serves as Special Advisor to CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project). In addition, Ms. DiPerna serves on the Distinguished Advisory Board of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM); the Board of Advisors of Global Kids; and the Impact Council of Do-conomy, an environmental fintech based in Sweden. DiPerna also serves on the Board of Directors of The HistoryMakers in the US, the largest oral and video archive of profiles of 20th and 21st century African-American leaders across all sectors. In addition, she Chairs the US Board of Directors of Humanity Insured, a global non-profit launched in 2024 to design an insurance safety net to address financial disruptions faced by vulnerable communities due to climate change impacts.

DiPerna’s recent non-fiction book, Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Transformation to Value the Planet, Solve the Climate Crisis, and Protect Our Most Precious Assets (Wiley) is widely considered a breakthrough and was named to the Financial Times “Best Summer Reads: Economics” roster in 2023. Among other comments about Pricing… Sir Partha Dasgupta, author of the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity said, “This is a deep meditation on the state of the biosphere and the role humankind has played in bringing it to where it is today. What makes the book remarkable is that it is informed by an extraordinary, exploratory life. DiPerna’s personal experiences have moved her to initiate and engage in remarkable endeavors to create institutions that encourage us to conserve Nature. This is a deeply moving piece of work.”

Pricing…received extensive media attention, including on Amanpour and Co/CNN International. DiPerna has given numerous talks and readings, including in the Half King Literary series at the Salmagundi Club in New York; New York Economic Club, the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto, The Rockefeller Foundation, S&P Global’s Trailblazer program; MSCI, The Natural Capital Americas Summit; MIT’s Planetary Action TED-x Boston Symposium; the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), among others.

DiPerna’s also co-authored Carbon Hunters: Reflections and Forecasts on Climate Markets in the 21st Century with renowned economist and financial innovator, Prof. Richard L. Sandor (World Scientific Press, fall 2025.) Using a personal narrative form, this is the unique story of how the authors met by coincidence and then went on to revolutionize climate change policy by launching the world’s first carbon markets, including in China. DiPerna also writes regularly for Environment, and ESG Review.

Formerly, DiPerna served as President of CCX-International (Chicago Climate Exchange), the world’s first cap-and-trade system to address climate change; President of the Joyce Foundation, a major US philanthropy; and as a writer, co-producer and Vice-President for International Affairs at The Cousteau Society, whose principal was oceans pioneer, Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

While at CCX, DiPerna led the expansion of corporate membership, as well as domestic and international policy efforts, with special responsibility for China, where she has extensive experience. With CCX Chairman and founder, Dr. Richard L. Sandor, DiPerna negotiated the joint venture that created the Tianjin Climate Exchange (TCX), China’s first pilot carbon market, in a breakthrough partnership with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

As President of the Joyce Foundation, Ms. DiPerna oversaw all grant making and operations, representing roughly $40 million in annual philanthropy and where she initiated the Millenium grant series, aimed at supporting projects of major inter-generational significance.

At the Cousteau Society, Ms. DiPerna led all aspects of national and international environmental policy. As writer and co-producer, she wrote numerous documentary films, and traveled worldwide with Cousteau expeditions and the famous exploration vessel, “Calypso.”

DiPerna has also served as a juror for the 2019-2020 Eliasson Prize for Global Leadership, awarded by the Tallberg Foundation; the 2019 “100andChange” initiative of the MacArthur Foundation, and its 2023 Lever for Change competition; and the JM Kaplan Fund Innovation Prize. DiPerna served on the Board of Advisors of the NTR Foundation, based in Dublin, Ireland, an environmental grant maker, as well as on the Sustainability Advisory Council of Jupiter Asset Management. Ms. DiPerna was named a Visiting Fellow at Civic Exchange, Hong Kong, focused on emerging issues in Asia; and a Fellow at the Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller Foundation, to further her writing on environmental finance.

In fall of 2026 DiPerna has been a Visiting Scholar at HKUST. She has also been a visiting instructor or guest lecturer at other academic institutions worldwide, including Barnard College and the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, New York City; Ohio State University; Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto, Canada; Hartwick College, New York; Bard College, New York; New York University; The State University of New York (SUNY); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); CAISL International School, Cascais, Portugal; PREM International High School, Chiang Mai, Thailand. She also services on the President’s advisory College Council of SUNY-Oneonta, an undergraduate college in the State University of New York system.

Ms. DiPerna is a member of the Women’s Forum of New York, and the US Council on Foreign Relations, as well as the Writer’s Guild-East, Author’s Guild and the Society of Authors in the UK. She is based in New York City.

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