Professor Sir Robert Watson is one of the most influential environmental scientists worldwide, contributing to multiple scientific assessments to inform international and national policies and actions about climate change. He has held senior research and advisory roles including that of Science Policy Advisor to President Clinton, NASA, The World Bank, and Department of Food, Environment & Rural Affairs in the U.K. government. He has also chaired and co-chaired the IPCC, MEA, IPBES, and several other influential international scientific assessments that help us transition to a sustainable world. This lecture on 'Making Peace with Nature,' builds on a synthesis of several international scientific assessments that Professor Watson led for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He will address the scientific, political, and moral challenges that we confront in our attempts to live within 'Nature's limits'.
Shiv Nadar University is a student-centric, multidisciplinary and research-focused University offering a wide range of academic programs at the Undergraduate, Master's, and Doctoral levels. The University was set up in 2011 by the Shiv Nadar Foundation, a philanthropic foundation established by Mr. Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL. The University is in the quest to become a globally acclaimed center for learning and innovation in the fields of Engineering, Natural Sciences, Humanities & Social Sciences, and Management. The core of the University consists of a select, world-class faculty with doctoral and postdoctoral experiences from ranked universities all over the world.Shiv Nadar University has been recognized as one of the ten private ‘Institutions of Eminence’ by the Government. In the NIRF (Government’s National Institutional Ranking Framework), the University has been the youngest institution in the 'top 100' Overall list. In NIRF-2021, it ranked 56 in the 'University' category. Shiv Nadar University has been accredited with Grade ‘A’ by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council), valid for a period of five years from 26 November 2019. It is also among a select group of institutions in the country which were awarded the prestigious Atal Incubation Center grant by the NITI Aayog, Government of India, in the very first round in 2017.