This seminar is hosted by the Biodiversity Institute

Speaker: Professor Sir Robert T. Watson, DEFRA Chief Scientific Advisor

Biography: He received a Knighthood in 2012 for his contribution to science. He is a former Chief Scientist and Director for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (ESSD) at the World Bank and before that an Associate Director for Environment in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President in the White House.

He has played a key role in the negotiation of global environment conventions and the evolution of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). He was Director and Co-chair of: the International Assessment of Agricultural Science & Technology for Development, the Board of Directors of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the International Scientific Assessment of Stratospheric Ozone. From 1997 to 2002, he was Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has also been Chair or Co-Chair of a number of international scientific assessments, including the IPCC Working Group II, the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization (UNEP-WMO), and UNEP’s Global Biodiversity Assessment. He is the current Chair of the newly formed Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

Venue: Mansfield College Chapelle, Mansfield Road