Penehuro Lefale co-developed the firm LeA International in 2005 to work on climate and disaster risk reduction and resilience in the Asia-Pacific region. As the lead author for the chapter on small islands for Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, he earned a Nobel Peace Prize with his climate colleagues in 2007. In his early career, Pene helped develop the language for the Kyoto Protocol and worked with negotiating teams during the UNFCCC Conference of Parties meetings. Later, he was the Climate Coordinator for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, a Pacific Climate Analyst with New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, and Scientific Officer of the World Climate Program in the World Meteorological Organization. He has a postgraduate degree in International Environmental Legal Studies and a Bachelor of Science (Physics & Mathematics) degree.