Debra Roberts is new chair of the Climate Centre board
By the Climate Centre
The highly respected South African practitioner and scientist Professor Debra Roberts – who was co-chair of the IPCC’s Working Group II on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability for its sixth assessment cycle and who has previously been named one of the world’s 100 most influential people on climate policy – is the new chair of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre board, it was announced today.
She takes over from Yolanda Kakabadse, the conservationist and former Ecuadoran environment minister.
“I believe we are at a key moment in the history of our species when we are grappling with the consequences of an unjust and inequitable development path that has left many vulnerable human and natural communities at risk,” Roberts said today.
“The Red Cross Red Crescent is a lighthouse in such a world, enabling evidence-based decision-making that improves the lives of millions of people around the world every year.
“I am therefore extremely proud to be able to work with the other members of the board to ensure that the Climate Centre continues to drive its mission forward in an energized and sustained way.”
The holder of a PhD in urban biogeography, Roberts was a lead author of Chapter 8 on urban areas and a contributing author to Chapter 12 on Africa of WGII’s contribution to the IPCC’s fifth assessment of the global climate and was the first local government official and the first woman from Africa elected as a co-chair of the IPCC in 2015.
She led the environment, biodiversity, climate change, resilience and sustainability functions in eThekwini municipality in Durban, South Africa for 30 years and currently holds the Professor Willem Schermerhorn Chair in Open Science from a Majority World Perspective in the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation at the University of Twente (UT) in the Netherlands.
She is also a Honorary Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Under her joint leadership, WGII published the IPCC Special Report on Ocean and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate in 2019, and she contributed to other special reports on climate change and land, and the key 1.5°C threshold.
‘She is grounded, convincing and inspirational’
Professor Roberts has also served as an adviser to the Global Commission on Adaptation, United Cities and Local Governments, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability; the Global Commission for SDG Urban Finance; the WMO World Weather Research Programme; and UN-Habitat and UNEP. She was a member of South Africa’s UNFCCC negotiating team for adaptation and loss and damage.
Welcoming her to the board today, Climate Centre Director Aditya Bahadur said: “Professor Roberts brings a wealth of expertise on climate resilience and sustainable development. She has engaged intensively at the local level while wielding immense influence in global policy and research processes.
“We are looking forward to drawing on her experience to further strengthen the work of the Climate Centre.”
Debra Roberts was born in 1961 in what is now Zimbabwe and was the first woman in her family to go to university. “I was the kid who kept caterpillars in a shoebox in her room,” she has said. She first graduated in biology and chemistry at the University of Natal.
In 2022 she was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Twente as part of celebrations for its 60th anniversary. She also holds honorary doctorates from the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University.
“Debra’s work is very special,” said her academic honorary promoter and IPCC colleague, former Climate Centre Director Maarten van Aalst, who is also UT Professor of Climate and Disaster Resilience.
“Not only is she a fantastic scientist but also someone who really bridges science, policy and practice. She is grounded, convincing and inspirational. She’s a very important role model.”
Professor Debra Roberts at the University of Twente in 2022. An extended interview covering her life and work conducted by U-Today magazine is online. (Photo: University of Twente)