Xavier E. Matsutaro
Xavier E. Matsutaro is the head of the Office of Climate Change (OCC) and National Climate
Change Coordinator for Palau. He is also the Focal Point to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In this role, Xavier is responsible for coordinating
the implementation of Palau’s climate change policy, supporting public awareness on climate
change, accessing climate finance, developing and sharing national reports on climate change,
and representing Palau in regional and international meetings. He has also been the head of the
negotiation technical team in the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties meetings since 2015.
Since 2014, Xavier has been a member of the Palau Joint Crediting Mechanism, a compliance
carbon markets mechanism between the Japan and Palau Government where he is the current
Palau-side Chairperson. In addition, he is the Lead Coordinator for the Pacific Island
Development States on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. He is committed to advocating for
environmental integrity, share of proceeds to support adaptation, and achieving net emission
reduction through overall mitigation on global emissions.