Patrick V. Verkooijen

Patrick V. Verkooijen (born May 21, 1969) is the CEO of Global Center on Adaptation which manages the Global Commission on Adaptation chaired by Ban Ki-moon and co-led by Kristalina Georgieva and Bill Gates.[1][2][3] He was the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change.[4]

Patrick V. Verkooijen
Born (1969-05-21) May 21, 1969
NationalityNetherlands
OccupationCEO of Global Center on Adaptation
Known forBeing the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change

Education

Verkooijen holds a PhD in Sustainable Development Diplomacy from Wageningen University. He also achieved an MPA from Harvard University and a master's degree in Social and Political Philosophy from the University of Amsterdam. He has written academic papers focusing on sustainability and governance.[5]

Career

Since July 2012, Verkooijen has been the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change.[4] He represented the World Bank in UN meeting on climate change and led the global effort to put a price on carbon ahead of the Paris Summit in 2015.[6][7] As such, he mobilized support from leaders across the globe, including Chancellor Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, to commit to global goals to expand carbon pricing to cover 25 percent of global emissions by 2020, and achieve 50 percent coverage within the next decade.[8]

In the lead up to the Rio+20 conference in June 2012, Verkooijen led a massive global mobilization effort successfully encouraging public and private sectors to join forces, taking collective action in support of natural capital accounting.[9]

As head of the World Bank's efforts on climate-smart agriculture, Verkooijen spearheaded, in close collaboration with Kofi Annan, the global effort to enhance the triple win of food security, adaptation and mitigation culminating in the adoption of agriculture as part of the UNFCCC and for the first time transforming agriculture from being part of the problem to being part of the solution to climate change.[10]

Prior to his work on climate-smart agriculture, Verkooijen was the key architect behind the development of the Forest Investment Program, entrusted with approximately US$600 million in donor commitments, empowering developing countries to manage natural resources in a way that it is good for forests, good for development and good for the climate.[5] As part of this global effort, Verkooijen has also developed the largest grant mechanism to date for indigenous peoples and local communities to enhance their role in forest management and climate action.[11]

Verkooijen was the Professor of Practice of Sustainable Development Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University from January 2010 to 2020.[12] He was also a Lead Author of the Global Forest Expert Group (GFEP) on the International Forest Regime, as established within the United Nations framework of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.[13] He is a visiting Professor in Global Forest Diplomacy at the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group at Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands.[5] He regularly speaks in the global media about Climate change and Global warming.[14][15]

Media coverage

Verkooijen co-authored an op-ed with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for The Boston Globe entitled Climate proofing our communities.[16] This called for United States to implement a climate-resilient infrastructure plan.[16] The op-ed followed Verkooijen's visit to Miami with Ban Ki-moon to meet Mayor Francis X. Suarez to learn more about Miami's efforts to cope with rising sea levels.[16]

Verkooijen also co-authored an op-ed with President Heine for The Washington Post which explored the impact of climate change on low lying countries like the Marshall Islands and the Netherlands.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Global Center on Adaptation CEO Verkooijen visits the Ban Ki-moon Centre in Vienna". bankimooncentre.org. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  2. "In today's burning news, UN report says last year was fourth hottest on record". indiatoday.in. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  3. "Bill Gates leads global call to accept realities of a warming planet". newscientist.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  4. "FNP visiting professor appointed world bank special representative for climate change". wur.nl. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  5. "Dr. Patrick Verkooijen CEO - GLOBAL CENTER ON ADAPTATION". planetarysecurityinitiative.org. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  6. Carrington, Damian (3 December 2018). "We are last generation that can stop climate change' – UN summit". theguardian.com. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  7. Jacobsen, Reinhard. "Former UN Chief and Bill Gates on Board as the Netherlands Accelerates Climate Adaptation". indepthnews.net. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  8. "UN warns world on track to breach 3C rise by 2100; last year was fourth warmest on record". abc.net.au. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  9. "Victories for food and farming in Durban climate deals". ccafs.cgiar.org. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  10. "Ccc: Social Protection, Climate Adaptation, Climate Finance, Us-Ph Socio-Economic Ties, And Climate Resilience In Day 3 Of Wb-Imf Spring Meetings". climate.gov.ph. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  11. "Forest Preservation in a Changing Climate - Cambridge University Press" (PDF). cambridge.org. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  12. "Patrick Verkooijen Non-Resident Professor of Practice of Sustainable Development". fletcher.tufts.edu. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  13. "IUFRO: The Authors Expert Panel on International Forest Regime". iufro.org. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  14. "Living with Climate Change". project-syndicate.org. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  15. "Global Center's next chapter: Perspectives from CEO Patrick Verkooijen". gca.org. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  16. "Climate-proofing our communities". bostonglobe.com. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  17. "Don't let rising seas drown the Marshall Islands". washingtonpost.com. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
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