Biography
Bell is the director of RFF's program for International Institutional Development and Environmental Assistance (IIDEA), an initiative that recognizes the critical role of institutions and practical experience in developing effective environmental protection regimes globally. Bell's work emphasizes the significant domestic legal, institutional, economic, and cultural frameworks within which environmental policies develop, while drawing on the cumulative experience of developed and developing nations. IIDEA helps governments, nongovernmental organizations, development banks, and other institutions implement more effective environmental protection and natural resource management policies and laws.
Bell's emphasis is on developing a culture of compliance with environmental policies and building effective environmental institutions in societies without strong legal systems. Current projects include helping countries in Central and Eastern Europe implement public access to environmental information, developing stronger public participation in Thailand and, as part of an RFF team, advising on the institutional aspects for a demonstration SO2 emissions trading system for Taiyuan, China.
Bell has held management positions in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was a senior adviser to the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has chaired the board of the Women's Foreign Policy Group.
J.D., University of California at Berkeley, School of Law, 1967.
B.A. in political science, University of California at Los Angeles, 1964.
Professional Experience
Resident Scholar/Director, Program for International Institutional Development and Environmental Assistance, Resources for the Future, 1996 - present.
Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, June 1996 - September 1996.
Senior Attorney, International Activities, Office of General Counsel, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), August 1991 - May 1996.
Senior Fellow, Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (Budapest), Polish Representative, March 1991 - July 1991.
Assistant and Acting Associate General Counsel, Water, June 1986 - August 1991.
Assistant and Acting Associate General Counsel, Toxics, November 1979 - June 1986.
Journal Articles
What to Do About Climate Change Ruth Greenspan Bell Foreign Affairs | Vol. 85, No. 3
The Kyoto Placebo Ruth Greenspan Bell Issues in Science and Technology | December 23, 2005 | forthcoming
Culture - and History - Count: Choosing Environmental Tools to Fit Available Institutions and Experience Ruth Greenspan Bell Indiana Law Review | Spring 2005 | Volume 38, No. 3 | pp. 637-669
Aarhus Applied: Establishing a Framework for Increased Public Participation in Support of Environmental Clean-up Ruth Greenspan Bell, Jane B. Stewart and Magda Toth Nagy Environment Magazine | Forthcoming
Clearing the Air: How Delhi Broke the Logjam on Air Quality Reforms Ruth Greenspan Bell, Kuldeep Mathur, Urvashi Narain, and David Simpson Environment Magazine | April 2004 | Vol. 46, No. 3 Link to Web Feature: Clearing the Air
Further up the Learning Curve: NGOs from Transition to Brussels Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Politics | 2004 | Vol. 13, No. 1
Fostering a Culture of Environmental Compliance Through Greater Public Involvement Ruth Greenspan Bell, Jane B. Stewart, and Magda Toth Nagy Environment Magazine | October 2002
Environmental Policy for Developing Countries Ruth Greenspan Bell and Clifford S. Russell Issues in Science and Technology | Spring 2002
Communication Breakdown Ruth Greenspan Bell The Environmental Forum | November/December 2001
A Failure To Communicate Ruth Greenspan Bell The Environmental Forum | November/December 2001 | Related Discussion Paper 01-05 Environmental Law Reporter (ELR) International News & Analysis Service
Reaching Across the Communication Gulf: Reflections on the Challenges of Environmental Assistance Programs Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | 2001
Legitimacy, Trust and the Environmental Agenda in Armenia Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | September 2000 | Vol. 30, No. 9 Reprinted in Armenian language for use at American University of Armenia (affiliate of University of California). Also in Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis (September 2000); International News and Analysis from ELR.
Building Trust: Laying the Foundation for Environmental Regulation in the Former Soviet Bloc Ruth Greenspan Bell Environment | March 2000 | Vol. 42, No. 2
Developing a Culture of Compliance in the International Environmental Regime Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | August 1997 | Vol. 27
Lessons Learned in the Transfer of U.S.-Generated Environmental Compliance Tools: Compliance Schedules for Poland Ruth Greenspan Bell and Susan E. Bromm Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | June 1997 | Vol. 27 "Developing New Compliance Tools for Polish Environmental Enforcement, Central European Law Committee Newsletter, American Bar Association, Summer 19997, Vol. 2, No. 3
Environmental Liability in the Countries in Transition Revisited Ruth Greenspan Bell International Business Lawyer | March 1996
EPA's International Assistance Efforts: Developing Effective Environmental Institutions and Partners Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | October 1994 | Vol. 24
Exporting Environmental Protection Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | December 1993 | Vol. 23
Capital Privatization and the Management of Environmental Liability Issues In Poland Ruth Greenspan Bell The Business Lawyer | May 1993 | Vol. 48, No. 943 Reprinted in Environmental Liability and Privatization in Central and Eastern Europe (Graham & Trotman/Martinus Nijhoff, London/Dordrecht/Boston), 1994.
Industrial Privatization and the Environment in Poland Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | February 1992 | Vol. 22
Environmental Law Drafting in Central and Eastern Europe Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Law Reporter, News & Analysis | September 1992 | Vol. 22
Books, Chapters, and Reports
"Emissions Trading to Improve Air Quality in an Industrial City in the People's Republic of China," Richard D. Morgenstern, Piya Abeygunawardena, Alan Krupnick, Robert Anderson, Ruth Greenspan Bell, and Jeremy Schreifels China's Environment: The Challenges of Sustainable Development, | Kristen A. Day, editor | : M.E. Sharpe | 2005
"Further up the Learning Curve: NGOs from Transition to Brussels",
Ruth Greenspan Bell EU Enlargement and the Environment: Institutional Change and Environmental Policy in Central and Eastern Europe. | JoAnn Carmin and Stacy D. VanDeveer, eds. | London: Frank Cass | 2004
"Hungary: Developing Institutions to Support Environmental Protection" Ruth Greenspan Bell To Restore Cursed Earth, Appraising Environmental Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union | Matthew Auer, editor | Boulder, Colorado: Rowman & Littlefield Press | 2004
Reforming Permitting
Ruth Greenspan Bell Second Generation Committee Newsletter, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources | June 2002
Environmental Policy for Developing Countries Ruth Greenspan Bell The Theory and Practice of Command and Control in Environmental Policy | Gloria E. Helfand and Peter Berck, eds. | England & USA: The International Library of Environmental Economics and Policy (Ashgate Publishing) | 2003
How Much is Too Much? Thoughts About the Use of Risk Assessment in the Economies in Transition and the Developing World Ruth Greenspan Bell and James D. Wilson Assessment and Management of Environmental Risks: Cost-effective Methods and Applications | Igor Linkov and Jose Palma-Oliveira | Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers | 2001
"Building Trust: Laying a Foundation for Environmental Regulation in the Former Soviet Bloc Ruth Greenspan Bell Environment in the New Global Economy | Peter M. Haas, ed. | UK & USA: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd | 2004 forthcoming
Signing a Climate Treaty is the Easy Part; Implementing and Enforcing Agreed-Upon Actions Pose Many Challenges Ruth Greenspan Bell Green Planet Blues: Environmental Politics from Stockholm to Rio | Geoffrey Dabelko, Ken Conca, and Michael Alberty | Boulder, CO: Westview Press | 1998 (Originally published on www.weathervane.rff.org.)
Capital Privatization and the Management of Environmental Liability Issues In Poland Ruth Greenspan Bell Environmental Liability and Privatization in Central and Eastern Europe | Gretta Goldenman, et al. | London/Dordrecht/Boston: Graham & Trotman/Martinus Nijhoff | 1994
Short Articles, Issue Briefs, and Other Publications
Inside RFF Ruth Greenspan Bell Resources | Summer 2006 (162)
Review of Smokestack Diplomacy: Cooperation and Conflict in East-West Environmental Politics Robert G. Darst Book Review | Forthcoming For the Slavic Review (American Quarterly of Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Choosing Environmental Policy Instruments in the Real World Ruth Greenspan Bell Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Monitoring International Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Ruth Greenspan Bell BNA Daily Environment Reporter, Analysis & Perspective | August 2, 2002 Also published in the "BNA International Environmental Reporter, Analysis & Perspective," August 14, 2002.
Monitoring International Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Ruth Greenspan Bell BNA Daily Environment Reporter, Analysis & Perspective, op-ed | August 2, 2002
EU Membership: Boon or Bane for the Environmental Community in the Accession Countries? Ruth Greenspan Bell EU Enlargement and Environmental Quality in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond | The Woodrow Wilson Center, East European Studies; Virginia Polytechnic Institute; and State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | EU Enlargement and Environmental Quality in Central and Eastern Europe, Conference Proceedings | JoAnn Carmin and Sabina Crisen, eds. | Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars | August 2002
Don't Let 'Right to Know' Be a War Casualty Thomas C. Beierle and Ruth Greenspan Bell Christian Science Monitor | December 20, 2001
Don't Let 'Right to Know' be a War Casualty Tom Beierle and Ruth Greenspan Bell Christian Science Monitor, op-ed | December 20, 2001
The Conceptual Perspective for Public Participation Ruth Greenspan Bell Workshop on Good Governance, Public Participation and the Decision-making Process for Environmental Protection | Institute of Social and Economic Policy (ISEP) and Resources for the Future (RFF) | Workshop on Good Governance, Public Participation and the Decision-making Process for Environmental Protection, Proceedings | Bangkok, Thailand: Saitharn Publication House | 2001
Environmental Impact Assessment and The Role of the Courts and the Public in the United States Ruth Greenspan Bell Workshop on Good Governance, Public Participation and the Decision-making Process for Environmental Protection | Institute of Social and Economic Policy (ISEP) and Resources for the Future | Workshop on Good Governance, Public Participation and the Decision-making Process for Environmental Protection, Proceedings | Bangkok, Thailand: Saitharn Publication House | 2001
Invited by Jon Isham, Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics, Department of Economics and Program in Environmental Studies, Middlebury College, and one of the organizers of the national educational initiative on global warming, Focus the Nation,(www.focusthenation.org) to visit Middlebury for 3 days in March to speak at classes and with faculty. Invitation was partially related to the Foreign Affairs article, What To Do About Climate.
Middlebury College | John Isham, Middlebury College | Middlebury, Vt | April 14, 2007
Invitation from Anya Schiffron (Joe Stiglitz wife) to do a panel tentatively called Climate Change and Life after Kyoto for the annual Initiative for Policy Dialogue conference for journalists from developing countries, from Europe and the U.S. and graduate school students from Columbia Journalism School and School of International and Public Affairs. The overall conference is entitled Covering Globalization, Trade, Agriculture and the Environment and will be held March 29 April 1, 2007. Other people on my panel (at my suggestion) are Gavin Schmidt from www.realclimate.org and Paul Epstein from the Harvard Medical School. Other speakers at the seminar include Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs and other academics and professionals. Initiative for Policy Dialogue is a think tank based at Columbia which was founded by Joseph E. Stiglitz. IPD works on economic development but their specialty is in helping reporters in developing and transition countries cover finance and economics. It receives funding from the Open Society Institute.
Ruth Greenspan Bell Initiative for Policy Dialogue conference | Anya Schiffron | Columbia University, NYC | March 31, 2007
The Environment and Environmental History in East Central Europe:
Ruth Greenspan Bell (panel presentation) 38th National Convention of the AAASS: | American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies | Washington, D.C. | November 18, 2006 Panel includes Eagle Glassheim, (University of British Columbia; Alison Frank (Harvard U); Zsuzsa Gille (U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign); Ruth Greenspan Bell, (Resources for the Future); Patrice Dabrowski (Harvard U).
Climate change
University of California, Berkeley School of Law panel | University of California, Berkeley School of Law | Berkeley, California | September 30, 2006
Invited to be on panel at National Conference of American public Power Association to talk about climate change -- Climate change: Current proposals and Options" -- NOTE: invitation declined because of conflict Ruth Greenspan Bell (panel presentation) American Public Power Association 2006 National Conference | American Public Power Association | Chicago | June 13, 2006
The Problems with Regulatory Innovation in China Ruth Greenspan Bell Panel on Environmental Governance and State Capacity in China | Assocation for Asian Studies | San Francisco, California | August 12, 2005
Can the Markets Save the Environment Ruth Greenspan Bell The Economist magazine/the Royal Institution | London, U.K. | September 16, 2002 (Debate)
Opportunities and Obstacles to Environmental NGO Participation in Eastern Enlargement of the EU Ruth Greenspan Bell Public Participation, Nongovernmental Organizations, and European Union Enlargement | Woodrow Wilson Center, Virginia Tech, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Washington, D.C. | March 14, 2002
Poland's Environment Today and EU Accession Ruth Greenspan Bell U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute | March 12, 2002
International Environmental Assistance: Why? Ruth Greenspan Bell Inter-American Development Bank | December 6, 2001
Public Participation and Danube Clean-up Ruth Greenspan Bell First Biennial Global Environment Facility International Waters Conference | Budapest, Hungary | September 21, 2000
Environmental Governance Ruth Greenspan Bell World Affairs Council | Georgetown University | Washington, D.C. | June 28, 2000
International Environmental Governance Ruth Greenspan Bell Women In International Security | The Pentagon, Washington, D.C. | June 20, 2000
Leadership in the Conservation of Planet Earth Ruth Greenspan Bell Annual Conference | Executive Women in Government | Washington, D.C. | May 24, 2000
The Conceptual Perspective for Public Participation, and Environmental Impact Assessment Ruth Greenspan Bell Workshop on Good Governance, Public Participation and the Decision-making Process for Environmental Protection | Bangkok, Thailand | March 18, 2000
The Role of the Courts and the Public in the United States Ruth Greenspan Bell Workshop on Good Governance, Public Participation and the Decision-making Process for Environmental Protection | Bangkok, Thailand | March 18, 2000
Public Participation and Good Governance in Thailand Ruth Greenspan Bell Workshop on Good Governance, Public Participation and the Decision-making Process for Environmental Protection | Thai Institute of Social and Economic Policy and Resources for the Future | Bangkok, Thailand | March 1, 2000 First Biennial Global Environment Facility International Waters Conference, Budapest, Hungary, fall 2000.
U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership, Washington, D.C., July 11, 2000.
Germany's Elections: Their Impact on Central and Eastern Europe Ruth Greenspan Bell International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) Policy Forum | IREX | April 12, 1999
Germany and the European Union: The Environmental Policy Dimension of EU Enlargement Ruth Greenspan Bell American Institute for Contemporary Germany Studies | March 22, 1999
Emerging Instruments for Environmental Management Ruth Greenspan Bell Asian Development Bank | Manila, The Philippines | February 1, 1999
Increasing the range of Environmental Compliance Tools Ruth Greenspan Bell The World Bank | January 1, 1999
Setting Priorities for Russia's Environment: An American Example Ruth Greenspan Bell Center for Russian Environmental Policy | Moscow, Russia | May 1, 1998
A Comparison of the Three Rio Conventions and the Forest Principles for Potential Synergies: Food for Thought Ruth Greenspan Bell Expert Meeting on Synergies Among the Conventions on Climate Change, Biological Diversity Desertification and the Forest Principles | United Nations Development Programme | Sede Boqer, Israel | March 1, 1997
Developing a Culture of Compliance in the Environmental Regimes of the Countries in Transition Ruth Greenspan Bell RFF Wednesday Seminar Series | Resources for the Future | Washington, D.C. | February 1, 1995
Awards
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Fitzhugh Green Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Environmental Protection, 1994.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) General Counsel Award for Excellence, 1989.
Professional Activities
Professional Associations: Council on Foreign Relations, 1998 - present.
Women's Foreign Policy Group, Chair of the Board (1998 - 2000), Board of Directors (1995 - 2001), Member (1993 - 2002).
Board of Directors, International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP), 2000 - present.
Board of Directors, University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, National Alumni Association, 1997 - 2000.
Chair or Vice-Chair of several committees of the American Bar Association, Section of Natural Resources Law, 1979 - 1987.
Admitted to Practice Law: Connecticut
Massachusetts
North Carolina
Public Service
Committees, Symposiums and Task Forces: Treasurer, Hope for Children in Vietnam, 2002 - present. Speaker, U.S. Department of State Senior Seminar: The Aarhus Convention, FOIA and Central Europe, March 6, 2002. Speaker, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Seminar: The Aarhus Convention, FOIA and Central Europe, March 13, 2002. Lecturer, United Nations University International Course, Tokyo, Japan, May 23 and 24, 2002. Speaker, Ig, Slovenia: Developing a Freedom of Information Act, October 3, 2001. Speaker, United States Department of State Public Diplomacy Speaker Program, Hong Kong, Guangzou, Chongquin, Beijing and Shanghai, China, April 9 - 22, 2000. Speaker, University of Maryland Law School, Global Environmental Accountability, Ward, Kershaw & Minton Symposium, April 28, 2000. Washington Policy Forum Speaker Series, U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership (with Thomas C. Beierle), July 11, 2000. Speaker for two presentations (to the plenary and to the sub-group), Global Environment Facility's International Waters Conference, Budapest, Hungary, October 2000. Expert, U.S. Agency for International Development sponsored international chat room, "Environmental Policy, Legislation, and Regulation in Central and Eastern Europe in the Period Since 1989," December 7, 1999. Legislative Drafting/Public Participation Task Force, Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, 1991 - 1994.
Board Memberships:
Board of Directors, Society for International Development (SID), Washington D.C., 2005 - present
Board of Directors, 20/20 Vision, Washington, D.C., 2005 - present
