Charles McNeill, PhD

Dr. Charles Ian McNeill serves as the Senior Advisor on Forests & Climate for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) where he oversees the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative and forest and climate policy.  Previously he served in UNDP for 25 years with responsibility for environmental policy and programs and empowering indigenous peoples and civil society. In 2014 he led the establishment of the New York Declaration on Forests, in 2008 he co-founded the UN-REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Programme, and in 2002 he founded the Equator Initiative. Previously, Dr. McNeill was responsible for UNDP GEF’s global policy and programming and before that he managed UNDP’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) work in Africa. Before joining UNDP, he worked in the NGO sector on hunger eradication and sustainable development in South Asia and Africa.  After receiving his Ph.D. in Genetics, with a focus on conservation biology, from the University of California at Davis, Charles held several academic posts addressing a range of environmental and development issues.