Beginning in 2018, the Advisory Committee will guide Future Earth as it enters the next phase in its evolution as an international platform for research and innovation.The committee will provide advice to ensure that Future Earth’s research is of the highest quality. It will also aid the organisation in forming the links between science and society that are critical for transforming research into action. Among other tasks, the Advisory Committee will provide guidance on:
The Advisory Committee succeeds the Science and Engagement Committees, which were active from 2014 to 2017. In December 2017, Future Earth announced that Leena Srivastava and Johan Rockström would co-chair the newly-formed Advisory Committee. We will announce the full membership of this committee in 2018. Members will be drawn, in part, from experts who served on the original Science and Engagement Committees and from additional selections based on nominations from the Governing Council.
Leena Srivastava is the Vice Chancellor of the TERI School of Advanced Studies in New Delhi – an inter-disciplinary higher education institution, focused on sustainability studies. She has worked for over three decades on policy research in the areas of energy, environment and climate change at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), where she served as Executive Director and was responsible for providing research guidance and supervision.
She served as a Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group III of the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and was a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of the International Human Dimension Programme on Global Environmental Change Industrial Transformation Programme (IHDP-IT) from 2000 to 2006.
She has taken on leadership roles numerous other sustainability research and policy programmes, including the Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change of the United Nations Secretary General. Srivastava is also a member of of the President's Advisory Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development of the Asian Development Bank; the Carbon Trust Advisory Panel in the United Kingdom; the Research Advisory Committee of WWF-India; and other organisations.
Srivastava has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Hyderabad and a Ph.D. in Energy Economics from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
Johan Rockström played a crucial role in launching Future Earth, co-leading the transition team that established the organisation and its early priorities. He is an internationally recognised scientist for his work on global sustainability issues. He led a renowned team of scientists that presented the planetary boundaries framework, first published in 2009, with an update in 2015. This team argued that the nine planetary boundariespresented in the framework are fundamental in maintaining a “safe operating space for humanity.” This framework has been embraced as an approach to sustainable development by governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and companies.
Before turning his focus to global-scale issues, Rockström’s research focused on building resilience in water-scarce regions. After completing his Ph.D. at Stockholm University’s Systems Ecology Department in 1997, he spent nearly two decades conducting applied water research in tropical regions. He has also published research on agriculture systems, land use and ecosystem services.
In addition to his research, Rockström acts as an advisor to several governments and business networks. He provides guidance on sustainable development issues at noteworthy international meetings, such as the United Nations General Assemblies, World Economic Forums and conferences of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).