Patrick V. Verkooijen

Patrick V. Verkooijen (born May 21, 1969) and grew up in Emmen and Veendam and once played for the FC Groningen youth team. He then left the Netherlands and went to work for the United Nations, and later for the World Bank. He is currently the founding CEO of Global Center on Adaptation.[1][2] In this role he works closely with Ban Ki-Moon, architect of the Paris Agreement as 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chairman of the Board of GCA. He also managed the Global Commission on Adaptation chaired by Ban and co-led by Kristalina Georgieva and Bill Gates.[3][4][5] Prior to this role, he was the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change.[6]

Patrick V. Verkooijen
Born (1969-05-21) May 21, 1969
NationalityDutch
OccupationCEO of the Global Center on Adaptation
Known forBeing the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change

Education

Verkooijen received a PhD in Sustainable Development Diplomacy from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He also has a MPA from Harvard University and a Master of Science degree in Social and Political Philosophy from the University of Amsterdam. He has written academic papers focusing on sustainability and governance.[7]

He has been a Professor of Practice on Sustainable Development Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University since January 2010.

On 23 September 2022, in recognition of his "distinguished academic leadership and career in climate change and adaptation" as well as his "long career and achievements in championing climate action globally and shaping bold action at scale in Africa",[8] Prof Verkooijen was awarded a Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, which was conferred upon him by the Chancellor of the University, Dr. Vijoo Rattansi (Mrs). He was subsequently appointed as the Distinguished Chair of The Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies by the Vice Chancellor of University of Nairobi, Professor Stephen Kiama, who described Prof Verkooijen as a "champion of causes…that make the world a better place".[9]

Career

At the Global Center on Adaptation, Verkooijen oversaw the first Climate Adaptation Summit, hosted by the Netherlands in January 2021. During this summit, he convened the inaugural Ministerial dialogue on climate adaptation.[10] With the participation of newly appointed U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry and Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, the dialogue focused on how to accelerate efforts to build forward better from the Covid-19 pandemic. He also spearheaded the Groningen Science Declaration, which included five Nobel laureates and over 3,000 global scientists.[11] In April 2021 he convened the Global Leaders Dialogue on the Africa Covid-Climate Emergency with the African Development Bank to launch the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program with Akinwumi Adesina.[12] The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program will mobilize $25 billion to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation across Africa.[13] The Dialogue involved over 30 heads of state and global leaders.[14]

Verkooijen also initiated the first State and Trends in Adaptation report, which collates information on the status and trends in adaptation globally.[15]

Verkooijen also chairs the Ban Ki-moon Climate Adaptation Programme at the University of Groningen.[16] In this position, he has been involved in designing a curriculum for a master's programme in climate adaptation and supervising doctoral candidates. He has also been the Professor of Practice of Sustainable Development Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University since January 2010. He regularly speaks in the media about climate change and global warming.[17][18]

From July 2012 Verkooijen was the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change.[6] He represented the World Bank in UN meeting on climate change and led the global effort to put a price on carbon ahead of the Paris Summit in 2015.[19][20] As such, he mobilized support from leaders across the globe, including Chancellor Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, to commit to global goals to expand carbon pricing to cover 25 percent of global emissions by 2020, and achieve 50 percent coverage within the next decade.[21]

As head of the World Bank's efforts on climate-smart agriculture, Verkooijen collaborated with Kofi Annan on the global effort to improve food security, adaptation and mitigation culminating in the adoption of agriculture as part of the UNFCCC.[22]

Global Contributions

Professor Verkooijen has long been a champion of causes for human development and progress through deliberate and determined commitments to finding adaptation solutions to climate change. In his words and deeds there is a constant theme – to make the world a better place. In a piece "Prophet in a suit and tie" published by the University of Groningen, he was quoted as saying, "The bottom line is that climate adaptation is essential. The new part is the footnote that climate adaptation is actually an opportunity. If you see it as an 'extra expense', it will be shunned, particularly by finance ministers. We have tried to change the dialogue over the past two years from 'it is necessary' to 'it is in your economic interests'."[23]

Professor Verkooijen has dedicated his career to working alongside global leaders to drive climate adaptation. In 2012, he became the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change and its spokesperson in United Nations meetings on climate change in which role he helped shape the climate agenda of the World Bank Group. Towards this, he established global initiatives to support countries across the world to address the impacts of climate change, including the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, and the US$800 million Forest Investment Program. As head of the World Bank's efforts on climate-smart agriculture, he worked closely with Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, on the global effort to enhance food security, adaptation and mitigation. In so doing he played a key role in transforming agriculture from being part of the problem to being part of the solution to climate change.

Significantly, Professor Verkooijen was the lead expert on the global effort to put a price on carbon ahead of the Paris Summit in 2015, which came up with the landmark Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change whose goal is to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. He was able to mobilize support from political, business, finance and international non-governmental agency leaders from across the globe to commit to expanding carbon pricing to cover 25 per cent of global emissions by 2020 and achieve 50 per cent coverage within the next decade. He is also helping shape the future of adaptation action in 48 countries most threatened by climate change in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific through his role as Managing Partner of the Climate Vulnerable Forum. He also initiated the State and Trends in Adaptation report series, collating information on adaptation globally.

As the CEO of GCA, Professor Patrick Verkooijen on September 5, 2021, convened the second Climate Adaptation Summit at GCA's headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands bringing together global leaders from across governments, international organizations, multilateral development banks, the private sector, mayors, civil society, youth leaders, and other stakeholders to raise the world's ambition on adaptation. He was also the instigator of the Groningen Science Declaration of 22nd January 2021, in which he was joined by five Nobel Laureates and more than 3,000 global scientists. With a focus on climate change adaptation and COVID-19. This Declaration calls on world leaders, decision-makers and investors to change the way we understand, plan and invest in a changing climate and, in doing so, to ensure that we limit future damage. Professor Verkooijen also pursues climate adaptation justice for the world's most vulnerable people, wherever they may be.

Contributions to Africa

Professor Patrick Verkooijen has focused greater amount of his energy on working with African leadership and stakeholders to combat climate change through marshalling adaptation solutions. Under his bold leadership, he, as the CEO of the GCA, is leading the organisation in collaborating with global leaders, including President Macky Sall - Chair of the African Union, Kristalina Georgieva - Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Akinwumi Adesina - President of the African Development Bank Group, to mobilize US$25 billion in adaptation financing for Africa through the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program. He has already influenced $3bn in investment for adaptation in Africa since this was launched in April last year to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation across Africa.

In an op-ed entitled Africa expects action - and funding - for climate justice' co-authored with Ban Ki-moon, Prof Verkooijen said, "Africa does not want aid or emergency relief funds. It wants to invest in a climate-resilient future. It needs funding to rebuild roads, bridges and buildings so they can withstand frequent flooding and storms. It needs to invest in R&D to develop new crop strains that can withstand prolonged droughts. It needs to give farmers access to climate data services, and much else besides."[24]

Prof. Verkooijen continues to support other initiatives to ensure that Africa receives sufficient support for its adaptation initiatives. On 5 September 2022, he moderated an African Adaptation Summit '22 -themed friends of GCA High-Level Dialogue for COP-27. The summit was jointly hosted by the GCA, the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Africa Adaptation Initiative and the Climate Vulnerable Forum and adopted a five-point agenda that they considered critical to ensure adaptation breakthrough for COP 27 in November 2022 in Egypt. These revolved around meeting the funding needs for Africa by providing adaptation finance to support the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program and its Upstream Financing Facility.

Contributions to Kenya

In 2011, as Coordinator of Climate Smart Agriculture at the World Bank, he initiated the project "Triple Win of Climate-Smart Agriculture put into Practice" with Andrew Steer. The implementation of that project involved the participation of about 60,000 farmers in the Kisumu and Kitale regions of western Kenya in the first agricultural soil carbon project. The project helped to transform the livelihoods of small-scale farming by letting farmers practice climate-smart agriculture and improve their livelihoods. By adopting climate-smart agriculture techniques, the farmers started getting higher yields, improving the resilience of their crops to drought, and creating stronger soils that sequester more carbon.

In June 2022, he joined Kenya's 4th President, H.E, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta to announce an important partnership between the university of Nairobi and GCA and other partners, to implement a programme that will enhance the climate resilience of Kenya's and East Africa's infrastructure, and to scale up digital solutions that are critical for generating jobs for Kenya's young people. At the forum held at the University of Nairobi, President Kenyatta was appointed as a Global Champion of the African Adaptation Acceleration Program.

The partnership between GCA and the University of Nairobi is focusing on four priority areas covering national investment pipelines, asset level investment resilience, capacity for mainstreaming climate adaptation, and disruptive technology for climate resilient infrastructure. In this context, the two organisations will broker and strengthen new networks of climate change and infrastructure experts, including universities, global climate research institutions, engineering experts, and financing partners. The work revolves around four project components: (1) National Infrastructure Risk and Resilience Assessment (2) Infrastructure Asset Resilience Accelerator (3) Masterclass on Climate Resilient Infrastructure PPPs, (4) Disruptive technology for climate resilient infrastructure."

The partnership builds on the shared interest between the two institutions on the environment, climate change and specific promotion of adaptation.

Academia and publications

Verkooijen has taught in universities in the United States of America and the Netherlands, supervising and over 20 PhD students. He has more than 50 publications. His writings focus on sustainability and governance, and include: (1) Sustainable Development Diplomacy: Diagnostics for the Negotiation and Implementation of Sustainable Development; (2) The Future of the Paris Climate Agreement: Carbon Pricing as a Pathway to Climate Sustainability; (3) Climate Leadership: Advancing Low-Carbon Resilient Economies; (4) The Evolution of REDD+: An Analysis of Discursive-Institutional Dynamics (2014);(5) Transforming Global Forest Governance; etc.

As the CEO of GCA, he has contributed to several publications including the Annual State and Trends in Adaptation Reports, with the 2020 report focusing on Building Forward Better from COVID-19: Accelerating Action on Climate Adaptation; and the 2021 report on "How Adaptation Can Make Africa safer, Greener and More Prosperous in a warming World"; and the 2022 report on Adaptation at the Core of a Prosperous Africa in an Uncertain and Warming World. Other GCA publications under his leadership include (1) "Financial Innovation for Climate Adaptation in Africa 2021", October 2021; (2) Case Studies on Adaptation and Climate Resilience in Schools and Educational Settings, May 2022; (3) Young People and Drivers and Barriers to Climate Adaptation Action, August 2021; (4) Living with water: climate adaptation in the world's deltas, January 2021; (5) Adaptation Finance in the Context of Covid-19: "The Role of Development Finance in Promoting a Resilient Recovery", January 2021; (6) [https://gca.org/reports/a-green-and-resilient-recovery-for-latin-america/ A Green and Resilient Recovery for Latin America, January 2021.

Media coverage and Press

Verkooijen is regularly published in global media outlets including The Guardian,[25] The New York Times,[26] The Washington Post,[27] Reuters[28] and CNN International,[29] and has also appeared on Sky News,[30] CNBC International,[31] BBC[32] and Newsweek.[33]

In his regular contributions to the media, he continues to advance the agenda for adaptation as evidenced by the following recent articles:

1. "It's Time To Scale Up African Solutions for the Continent's Food and Climate Crises", William Ruto, Akinwumi Adesina, and Patrick Verkooijen, President Of Kenya; President, African Development Bank; CEO Of The Global Center On Adaptation, Newsweek, March 10, 2023

2. "Africa Is Doubling Down on Climate Adaptation. Here's Why It Deserves Support", Akinwumi Adesina and Patrick Verkooijen, Newsweek, 9 September 2022

3. "G7 should look to Africa for lessons in how to manage multiple crises", Uhuru Kenyatta and Patrick Verkooijen, Newsweek, 24 June 2022 [https://news.trust.org/item/20220429073445-a4km7/----

4. "Climate action should not be a casualty of war in Ukraine", Patrick Verkooijen and Ban Ki-moon, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 29 April 2022

5. Towards a Blue Peace in Africa: The Power of Adaptation, Patrick Verkooijen, Blue Peace, 19 April 2022

6. Out of Ukraine's war, a plan for Africa's food security Akinwumi Adesina & Patrick Verkooijen and Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 28 March 2022

7. We are all Maldivians, President Mohamed Nasheed and Patrick Verkooijen, Newsweek, 17 February 2022

8. We have a final opportunity to respond to climate change. We will take it? Kristalina Georgieva & Patrick Verkooijen, CNBC, 13 September 2021

9. How to prepare supply chains for the next global crisis, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Patrick Verkooijen, Fortune, 4 August 2021

10. Germany's floods illustrate need for urgent climate action, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, Deutsche Welle, 1 August 2021

11. The 'wet bulb warning', Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, CNN International, 17 July 2021

12. Making Good on the $100 Billion Climate Promise, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, Newsweek, 10 June 2021

13. Weather stations underpin effective climate action – we need more of them, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, Newsweek, 22 April 2021

14. African agriculture is ready for a digital revolution, Akinwumi Adesina & Patrick Verkooijen, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 7 April 2021

15. planning for a world with a lot less water, Ban Ki-moon & Patrick Verkooijen, CNN International, 22 March 2021

16. Climate action offers a hidden peace dividend, Patrick Verkooijen & Tawakkol Karman, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 22 February 2021

17. We must shape the COVID recover to address climate change too, Kristalina Georgieva & Ban Ki-moon, Newsweek, 25 January 2021

18. We must close the funding gap for climate adaptation, Ban Ki-moon & Patrick Verkooijen, Thomson Reuters Foundation], 11 December 2020

19. The climate crisis is destroying the human rights of those least responsible for it, AK Abdul Momen and Patrick Verkooijen, The Guardian, 30 September 2021

20. America, we've missed you. Now please get your act together on climate change, Ban Ki-moon & Patrick Verkooijen, CNN, 13 November 2020

21. Why nature is our best ally for a post-Covid recovery, Patrick Verkooijen, The GEF, 30 October 2020

22. As Black Lives Matter puts injustice in spotlight, climate emergency risks new 'apartheid', Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, USA Today, 11 August 2020

23. America needs a major infrastructure overhaul – and it must be green, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, Fortune, 29 July 2020

24. I'm bewildered that Trump would imperil America by abandoning the Paris agreement, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, The Guardian, 28 July 2020

25. Climate change is making it harder for us to feed ourselves, Feike Sijbesma and Patrick Verkooijen, Fortune, 25 July 2019

26. Investing in digital agriculture can help Africa beat this pandemic, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 1 July 2020

27. Fighting cyclones and coronavirus: how we evacuated millions during a pandemic, Sheikh Hasina and Patrick Verkooijen, The Guardian, 3 June 2020

28. "Coronavirus is a warning to us all: we must heal nature to heal ourselves", Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, HuffPost, 25 May 2020

29. To avert a COVID-triggered famine, our global food systems need to change, Dag-Inge Ulstein and Patrick Verkooijen, Thomas Reuters, 22 May 2020

30. Flattening the climate curve in the post-COVID world, Patrick Verkooijen, World Economic Forum, 17 April 2020

31. Will we learn lessons for tackling climate change from our current crisis? Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, CNN International, 9 April 2020

32. When the challenge is too much water rather than not enough, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, Thomson Reuters News, 23 March 2020

33. Fires and floods prove world leaders must act now on climate change, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, CNN International, 23 January 2020

34. Miami needs allies in its fight to survive climate change, Francis Suarez and Patrick Verkooijen, Thomson Reuters News, 8 January 2020

35. "On Polling Day, we must set aside our political difference to save the planet", Patrick Verkooijen, HuffPost, 12 December 2019

36. "The Climate Crisis in Terms Trump can Understand", Patrick Verkooijen, The New York Times, 8 November 2019

37. Nature can help us fight climate change – if we hurry, Andrew Steer and Patrick Verkooijen, Thomson Reuters News, 5 November 2019

38. Time is running out to stop the forces driving a new climate apartheid, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, Devex, 18 October 2019

39. The climate kids are right, Patrick Verkooijen, Project Syndicate, 11 October 2019

40. Local communities are a test bed for adapting to climate change, Muhammad Musa and Patrick Verkooijen, Thomson Reuters News, 13 August 2019

41. Beyond borders: why adapting to climate change should be a global endeavour, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, People's Daily, 27 June 2019

42. Climate change intensifies the Middle East's cycle of conflict, Jamal Saghir and Patrick Verkooijen, The National, 21 June 2019

43. Don't let rising seas drown the Marshall Islands, Hilde Heine and Patrick Verkooijen], The Washington Post, 10 April 2019

44. Climate proofing our communities, Ban Ki-moon and Patrick Verkooijen, The Boston Globe, 14 March 2019

Prof. Verkooijen has shaped research in the fields of sustainable development diplomacy, climate adaptation, climate-smart agriculture, and landscape restoration.

See also

References
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  17. "Living with Climate Change". project-syndicate.org. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
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  19. Carrington, Damian (3 December 2018). "We are last generation that can stop climate change' – UN summit". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  20. Jacobsen, Reinhard. "Former UN Chief and Bill Gates on Board as the Netherlands Accelerates Climate Adaptation". indepthnews.net. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
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  22. "Ccc: Social Protection, Climate Adaptation, Climate Finance, Us-Ph Socio-Economic Ties, And Climate Resilience In Day 3 Of Wb-Imf Spring Meetings". climate.gov.ph. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
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  24. Verkooijen, Patrick. "Prof. Dr". Context. Thompson-Reuters. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  25. "Fighting cyclones and coronavirus: how we evacuated millions during a pandemic". The Guardian. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  26. "The Climate Crisis in Terms Trump Can Understand". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  27. "Opinion: Don't let rising seas drown the Marshall Islands". The Washington Post. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  28. "OPINION: Miami needs allies in its fight to survive climate change". trust.org. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  29. "Will we learn lessons for tackling climate change from our current crisis?". edition.cnn.com. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  30. "Appearance On Skynews". Skynews. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  31. "Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of Global Center on Adaptation on CNBC on World Water Day". Global Center on Adaptation. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  32. "Priorities for adapting to climate change". BBC. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  33. "Weather stations underpin effective climate action—We need more of them | Opinion". Newsweek. 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
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