Dr Thomas E. Downing (PhD, Geography, Clark University) is CEO of the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership. He was formerly the Director of the Oxford office of the Stockholm Environment Institute, and much earlier Reader in Climate Policy in the Environmental Change Institute of the University of Oxford. He has been the science advisor to the UK Climate Impacts Programme and House of Commons, and research fellow in the University of Birmingham and National Center for Atmospheric Research. Currently he is visiting professor in Oxford University in the School of Geography and Environment and Queen Elisabeth House, and until recently, MunichRe Foundation chair in social vulnerability with the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security.
His major interests are vulnerability and adaptation to climate change and climatic hazards, with an emphasis on developing participatory, actor-oriented methods (such as agent-based social simulation). He has published over 100 papers, books, reports and book reviews, including the Atlas of Climate Change with Kirstin Dow. Recent projects include mainstreaming climate adaptation in the African Development Bank, economics of adaptation in Africa, assessment of climate change and water, seasonal climate forecasting in southern African and potential implications for sustainable livelihoods, and methods for vulnerability and adaptation to climatic hazards and climate change.
Thomas’ new venture, the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership, seeks to ‘enrich our clients’ understanding of the impact of climate change on people, environments, and businesses; and assist our clients in developing and implementing sustainable adaptation solutions to meet their unique climate change challenges.’
