Gabriel Nagel in white shirt and dark blue blazer against blurred outside background

Gabriel Nagel

Inaugural Chairperson of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Youth Advisory Council

Gabriel Nagel is a Filipino-American climate justice activist and community organiser. He is the Global Goal Ambassador for Climate Action at the United Nations Association (UNA-USA) and the inaugural Chairperson of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Youth Advisory Council (NEYAC). At Stanford, he researches marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) policy and studies International Relations, Economics, and Earth Systems.

 

As the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Light CO2, Gabriel launched a carbon footprint tracking app, curated a collection of youth-written articles, and planted over 10,000 trees. As the founder and co-leader of DPS Students for Climate Action, Gabriel developed an environmental justice policy passed across 200 schools, impacting 92,000 students. The policy is one of the first among all U.S. school districts to address social and climate justice.

 

Through the NEYAC, Gabriel leads 15 American climate activists, selected from over 1,600 applicants, to advise the U.S. EPA on environmental justice and youth engagement. NEYAC is the only federal advisory council entirely led by youth, making Gabriel the youngest Chairperson in U.S. history. Through UNA-USA, he organised the Local Conference of Youth, which hosted over 150 delegates to prepare climate recommendations for the U.S. State Department, and drafted the first U.N. Youth Declaration of Human Rights.

 

Alongside being featured on NPR twice, Gabriel's engagements extend to the United Nations, Harvard Climate Week, and meetings with Vice-President Kamala Harris to discuss climate anxiety. He is honoured with the International Climate Cadet Award and the President's Environmental Youth Award. As BMW Group's Engage Billions Scholar, Gabriel aspires to empower democratic and representational climate justice organising.