Scott is President of the Environmental Law Institute, an organization dedicated to fostering innovative, just, and practical law and policy solutions to enable leaders across borders and sectors to make environmental, economic, and social progress. Since his selection for the role in 2015, Scott has initiated a cooperative program with the government of China; assumed leadership of the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, a partnership of more than 4,000 practitioners from 150 countries; and helped to launch the Global Judicial Institute for the Environment.

Prior to the Environmental Law Institute, Scott was a Principal at the environmental law firm Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., and served as General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He also held a number of other key leadership roles in both Republican and Democratic Administrations, including as Acting EPA Deputy Administrator, head of EPA’s Office of International Affairs, Judge on the Environmental Appeals Board, and head of the Agency’s enforcement program. He served as Assistant Chief of the Environmental Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division.

An international expert on environmental governance and rule of law, he serves as a member of the United Nations Advisory Council on Environmental Justice and teaches International Environmental Governance as an adjunct professor at George Washington School of Law. He received the two highest awards given by the U.S. government for outstanding leadership—the Presidential Meritorious Executive Service Award, and the Presidential Distinguished Executive Service Award—and has been inducted into the American College of Environmental Lawyers.