Joseph Alcamo is Professor of Environmental Systems Science and Director of the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme at the University of Sussex, UK. Formerly he was Chief Scientist of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He also served as UN Special Science Advisor to the Head of the UN Climate Secretariat in the final phase of negotiations of the Paris Climate Agreement. Alcamo’s research has concentrated on environmental modelling and its applications, with many publications related to ecosystems and biodiversity, including degradation of water quality, land use change, and climate impacts on agriculture. He served as one of the Lead Authors of the international Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and coordinated the global modelling exercise which was part of that assessment.

Alcamo has been awarded the Max Planck Research Prize for physics and geoscience in connection with his contributions to global environmental modeling and the use of global models in international policy. He is also recipient of the Grand Prix des Lumières de l’Eau de Cannes for achievements in global water research.