Elizabeth Dowdeswell
Elizabeth Dowdeswell went from being a schoolteacher in Swift Current to becoming a leading international figure in environmental advocacy.
In 1992, she became Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the first woman to do so. There she led the agency's involvement in implementing sustainable development throughout the entire U.N. system. She also developed programs in state-of-the-environment assessment and reporting, environmental law, and trade and globalization. She served concurrently as Under Secretary General of the United Nations.
Born in Ireland, she moved with her family to Saskatchewan in 1947 and attended school in Sceptre, Young, Strasbourg, and Briercrest before attending the University of Saskatchewan (Home Economics and Education) and Utah State University (Behavioural Sciences). Before her U.N. roles, Dowdeswell worked for both the Saskatchewan and Canadian governments. In Saskatchewan, she was a human rights ombudsman and educational consultant with the Department of Education. From 1978-82 she was Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Recreation.
At the federal level, Ms. Dowdeswell was Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment Canada from 1989 to 1992, responsible for the national weather and atmospheric agency. In that capacity, she played a leading role in global efforts to negotiate the treaty on climate change adopted at the 1992 Rio Summit - United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). She was also Canada's permanent representative to the World Meteorological Organization; principal delegate to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and Canadian Chair of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board. Dowdeswell also worked as a management consultant to the Government of Canada and led a number of public inquiries into issues such as Canada's water policy and meteorological services.
Dowdeswell was elected to her UNEP post by the U.N. General Assembly just after the Rio Summit. She spent more than half her time for the next five years travelling the world from her Nairobi headquarters to guide and coordinate efforts. In an interview she noted that "it was expected that I would be present at all important international negotiations being convened around the world, whether forestry or biodiversity or climate change or chemicals..."
After her time at UNEP, Dowdeswell became a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto and Associate Fellow of the European Centre for Public Affairs.
In 2002, Dowdeswell was appointed President of the newly-created Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) charged with investigating long-term approaches for managing Canada's used nuclear fuel. She oversees both public consultation and scientific study of long-term waste management.
Dowdeswell is the author of numerous publications in both the popular press and professional journals. She is the recipient of nine honorary degrees, including six Doctor of Law degrees from various universities, a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, and the Memorial Gold Medal awarded by Charles University in Prague.
An Enduring Peace by Elizabeth Dowdeswell - a talk on the world environmental crisis to the Society of Environmental Journalists' annual convention.
Design for the Real World: Ideas for Achieving Sustainable Development