Two faculty members from the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF), one of whom also holds a joint appointment at UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA), are the only UBC scholars selected as authors for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Seventh Assessment Report (AR7).
Dr. William Cheung, professor and director of the IOF, has been selected as a Coordinating Lead Author for the North America chapter in Working Group II, which focuses on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.
Dr. Rashid Sumaila, University Killam Professor in the IOF and SPPGA, has been selected as a Lead Author for the chapter on Sustainable development and mitigation under Working Group III, which addresses mitigation of climate change.
Dr. Cheung has participated in the authorship of IPCC’s Assessment Reports in the past: on the Sixth Synthesis Report (AR6); the AR5 – Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (AR5-WG2) report; and as Coordinating Lead Author of the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC). He was also Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment and Coordinating Lead Author of the Methodological Assessment Report on Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Dr. Sumaila has participated in drafting IPBES reports, such as the Visions for nature and nature’s contributions to people for the 21st century report from 2017’s IPBES visioning workshop, as well as 2015’s The IPBES Conceptual Framework—connecting nature and people. He also participated in 2015’s UNESCO-IPBES Scenarios Workshop, “Global Biodiversity Outlook OceanCanada Partnership Marine Scenario Analysis”. In addition, he is currently the Coordinating Lead Author for the Medium and Large Scale Fishing Chapter of the World Ocean Assessment Report 3.
Tags: honours, IPBES, IPCC, Publications, Rashid Sumaila, UBC, William Cheung