IUCN message correction

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

I mentioned in my previous message that Kailash Sankhala's son

was present at yesterday's IUCN lecture at WWF.

Actually the man who delivered the 'Vote of Thanks' was Mr Amit Sankhala,

who is Kailash Sankhala's grandson. Also, the previous message omitted the

background of the keynote speaker, Dr Ashok Khosla, which I attach now.

Sorry for the mistake and omission.

Regards,

 

*Ashok Khosla

*

 

Ashok Khosla is the Chairman of the Development Alternatives

 

Group, a consortium of social enterprises based in India. He is

 

a member of the Government of India’s National Security

 

Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Council to the Cabinet.

 

In 1972, he set up and was Director of the Office of

 

Environment, Government of India, and later he was a Director

 

in the United Nations Environment Programme. He has served

 

as a senior advisor to the World Bank, UNDP, the Brundtland

 

Commission and various other international organizations.

 

Earlier, set up and headed the Office of Environmental Planning

 

and Coordination, Government of India the first national

 

environmental agency in the South. Subsequently was Director,

 

INFOTERRA in the United Nations Environment Programme,

 

in charge of the design and implementation of the global

 

environment information system.

 

Dr. Khosla was Special Advisor to the Brundtland Commission, and served as

advisor to the United Nations,

 

World Bank, GEF and various other inter-governmental and government

agencies. Also was advisor to the

 

MacArthur Foundation, IDRC, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and other

independent international

 

bodies.

 

Dr. Khosla has been associated with many International Organisations. He is

the president of IUCN, Vice

 

President of the Club of Rome. Chairman of WETV, the global access TV

network. Has served on the boards

 

of several international agencies, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature

(WWF), the World Conservation

 

Union (IUCN), EXPO 2000, the IISD, SEI, the Alliance for a New Humanity, WEF

NGO Council, the Earth

 

Council and the Centre for Our Common Future. Chairman of ’92 Global Forum,

the NGO component of the

 

Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro. Founder Member of the Factor 10 Club.

 

Mr. Khosla is the member of the National Security Advisory Board, the

Science Advisory Council to the

 

Cabinet and the National Environment Council of the Government of India.

Also Board member of several

 

government, industry and NGO Boards in India.

 

Author of more than 350 papers and articles; editor of the monthly journal

“Development Alternatives”.

 

Won the United Nations Sasakawa Environment Prize 2002, the premier global

prize in the field, awarded by

 

the UN Secretary General. Also received the Karl Schwab Outstanding Social

Entrepreneur Award, UN

 

Global 500 Award, Stockholm Challenge Award, and the Nehru Award for

Popularising Science from the

 

National Science Academy.

 

Ashok Khosla graduated from Cambridge University and received his doctorate

in experimental physics from

 

Harvard University. He lectured at Harvard on physics, astronomy and

environment. Concurrently held

 

several corporate positions.

 

http://www.devalt.org/IUCN.pdf

 

Press Release

 

Ashok Khosla the New IUCN President

 

Ashok Khosla, Chairman of Development Alternatives has won the presidential

election of

 

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2008, one of the

world's oldest and

 

largest global environmental networks. He was running against Purificació

Canals and Carlos

 

Manuel Rodríguez in the presidential run-off, held at its World Conservation

Congress in

 

Barcelona in October 2008.

 

Ashok Khosla will take over the position for the next four years from

outgoing President Valli

 

Moosa, who took up the post four years ago at IUCN’s previous World

Conservation Congress

 

in Bangkok, Thailand in 2004.

 

Dr. Ashok Khosla has worked tirelessly to demonstrate both the theory and

practice of

 

" sustainable development " through his teaching, fostering and delivery of

environment-friendly

 

and commercially viable technologies.

 

IUCN is a democratic union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member

organizations,

 

and some 10,000 volunteer scientists in more than 150 countries. Meeting in

Barcelona for their

 

Members’ Assembly, which runs till tomorrow, members vote on IUCN’s

programme of work for

 

the following four years, electing the IUCN President and Council, while

also managing the

 

business affairs of the Union.

 

“Given its critical role in maintaining life - and the systems that support

life - conservation of

 

biodiversity now needs at least the same level of attention that other

global environmental

 

issues have garnered,” says IUCN’s new President, Ashok Khosla.

 

“This will have to be mobilized not only by international agencies and

governments but also by

 

the scientific community, civil society and the public at large,” adds

Khosla. “We must form new

 

partnerships among the best institutions to bring together their different

insights and to generate

 

meaningful solutions that deal effectively with the inter-related issues of

population, natural

 

resources, environment and development.

 

Established in 1983, Development Alternatives innovates and delivers

eco-solutions for poverty

 

reduction and environment regeneration. It also spearheads and influences

major policy

 

changes that look at sustainable development issues and empowerment of the

marginalised.

 

www.khosla.in

 

www.devalt.org

 

www.cleanindia.org