Kilaparti Ramakrishna

Kilaparti Ramakrishna, "holds the position of Policy Advisor in the Office of the Executive Director' of UNEP. "Having received his academic training in sciences and law in India, Ramakrishna joined Harvard Law School in Massachusetts. His research interests were largely on how developing countries cope with emerging environmental problems and what role if any that laws, regulations, judiciary and civil society might play in it.

"Ramakrishna also has experience in working with the United Nations system, having been Special Advisor to the United Nations in drafting the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He also assisted with work on Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and subsequently worked for a while as the Principal Officer for Implementation in CBD secretariat, Montreal.

"Before joining UNEP, he was Deputy Director of the Woods Hole Research Center, holder of Sarah Shallenberger Brown Chair in Environmental Law and Policy and Visiting Professor of International Law at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and World Academy of Arts and Sciences, is on the boards of trustees of Consensus Building Institute in Cambridge, and the New England Forestry Foundation.

"In his new job as Policy Advisor, Rama, as he prefers to be called, has a number of responsibilities including: providing advice on the overall policy direction and framework of UNEP; conducting periodic organizational policy review; directing and coordinating the development of global environmental policy; assisting the ED/DED on the direction of UNEP strategic plan, policies, programme evaluation, and project approvals; taking the role of principal advisor on UNEP’s environmental policy and collaborating and consulting on UNEP’s global environmental strategy and policy.

"Ramakrishna holds Bachelors Degrees in Law and Sciences and Masters and Doctorate Degrees in International Environmental Law. He is married with two children."