Leadership Team

Dr. Thomas E. Downing, President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr Thomas E. Downing is President of the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership (GCAP) and Director of GCAP (UK). He received his PhD in Geography from Clark University. Over his career he has held a number of influential positions, including Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme and recently the Munich Re Foundation Chair for social vulnerability. In his 30 years of experience working in the field of adaptation and vulnerability he has led numerous projects, his most recent being the EC ClimateCost project. Before establishing GCAP, he was the Director of the Stockholm Environmental Institute’s Oxford office, where he managed a $2 million revenue base. Tom is an internationally recognised thought leader in adaptation and has published over 100 papers, books, reports and book reviews, including the Atlas of Climate Change (with Kirstin Dow). He is currently directing a project on an adaptation mainstreaming for the African Development Bank and has previously worked with the World Bank and Inter American Development Bank.

Some of his most recent projects include working for the African Development Bank in Tunisia from 2010 to Present as the Project Director, the KfW Germany in India from 2010 to 2011 as the Project Lead, the Department for International Development in Tanzania in 2010 as the Project Director, the European Commission in Europe from 2008 to Present as the Project Co-ordinator, the United Nations Environment Programme in Africa from 2008 to 2010 as the Principal Investigator and the European Commission/Defra from 2006 to 2009 as the Lead, Technical Assistance.

Andrew J. Downing, Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Downing has an undergraduate degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia (1978). Since 2001, he has provided guest lecturer and sales training services within the Entrepreneurial Discipline of McIntire School of Commerce.

Over the past thirty years, Mr. Downing has focused on the professional staffing industries. He is currently President and CEO of GlobeMed Resources, LLC, which is an international nurse staffing company with offices in India, Mexico, and the United States. He is also President and CEO of Pinpoint IT Services, LLC, which is a technology staffing company with offices in Puerto Rico, India and the United States.

Prior to founding GlobeMed Resources and Pinpoint IT Services, Mr. Downing was President and COO of Metro Information Services, which was a publicly traded IT staffing company with 47 offices throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, generating $350 million in annual revenue.

Mr. Downing's expertise includes start-up company strategic planning and fund raising, business development, and leadership team development. He is well adept at prioritization according to business and investor objectives.

Godfrey Grier, Director of IT Services

Mr. Grier has an undergraduate degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia (1977). Over the past thirty years he has continued to work within the professional staffing industry. He is currently Vice President of Operations and CIO of Pinpoint IT Services, LLC, which is a technology staffing company with offices in Puerto Rico, India and the United States.

Previously, Mr. Grier was Account Executive, Business Development Manager, and Technical Support Manager for Metro Information Services, a publicly traded IT staffing company with 47 offices throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. In this capacity, he led teams of technical consultants providing IT services to a myriad of municipal government, quasi-government, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail clients.

Mr. Grier's expertise includes consulting services operations, management, business development, and staffing. Using his technical ability, Mr. Grier has also accumulated exceptional skills in technical project conceptualization, management, and administration.

Professor Mohamed Hamza, Adaptation Academy Director

Dr. Mohamed Hamza is a Director at the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership (GCAP) where he’s responsible for the Adaptation Academy, and training and learning activities. An Independent Consultant and Professor of Disaster Risk Management and Vulnerability Studies at The Centre for Emergency and Development Practice (CENDEP), Oxford Brookes University, UK and Lund University, Sweden. His primary areas of professional expertise and research work are: Disaster risk and vulnerability reduction, post-disaster reconstruction and recovery, climate change impact and adaptation, environment and migration, and fragile and failed states. He’s also a Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI); and Munich-Re Foundation Chair of Social Vulnerability at the United Nations University’s Environment and Human Security Institute (UNU-EHS). Professionally, he is a Senior Advisor to the Swedish Civil Contingency Agency (MSB), and to UNDP, BCPR and ISDR. He has long experience with international development organisations - World Bank, UNDP, ISDR, USAID, DFID, IFRC, Sida, ActionAid, Swedish Red Cross, MSB and the Near East Foundation, and undertook consultancies in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and currently working in South Eastern Europe and the Balkan States.

Paul Watkiss, Director of Economics of Adaptation

Mr. Watkiss has over 25 years of experience working the field of adaptation with his primary focus on the economics of adaptation and climate change. He has an in-depth knowledge of the literature (academic and grey literature) in this field, with particular expertise in the evidence base in Europe and Africa. He has co-authored a number of relevant synthesis reviews on the economics of adaptation, including the 2009 technical paper on 'costs and benefits of adaptation' for the UNFCCC SUBSTA as part of the Nairobi Work Programme (socio-economic information sub-theme).

He has led a number of recent studies that have advanced the methods for the economics of adaptation, including the 2007 EEA publication on the costs of adaptation: methodological aspects. He also has practical experience of undertaking studies on the economics of adaptation, particularly in the context of national adaptation analysis (working directly with policy makers). He has also provided policy support to the European Commission as part of its adaptation policy development.

Strategic and Scientific Advisors

Professor Bruce Hewitson, Principal Climatologist

Professor Bruce Hewitson is the National Research Chair on Climate Change at the University of Cape Town with a PhD from Pennsylvania State University (1992). His key expertise is in regional climate change, climate modelling, downscaling and climate change scenarios. He also has a breadth of experience in issues relating to these topics, such as mentoring and training in capacity building activities, engaging with stakeholder communities on climate change issues across Africa, and serving the international climate change research activities through IPCC and related agencies.

As director of the Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG), Professor Hewitson has extensive experience in multi-disciplinary projects, project proposals, project management, and fund generation. His group in Cape Town, one of the planned GCAP Knowledge Partners, is the only resource targeting regional climate change projections for Africa. and Its research output is currently utilised by over 450 registered users. Through these activities, Professor Hewitson has a demonstrably strong background in working with stakeholders and other scientists across Africa.

Dr. Saleemul Huq, Principal Policy Officer

Dr. Saleemul Huq has a PhD in Plant Sciences from Imperial College, London (1984). As Principal Policy Officer, he brings a wealth of adaptation experience, from international politics to community based action, into the GCAP training and services. His new centre (ICCCAD) is set to be a flagship training site for the GCAP Adaptation Academy.

Dr. Youba Sokona, Principal Policy Officer

Dr. Sokona has a PhD in Environmental Sciences from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris and Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris (1981) and an undergraduate degree in Civil and Mining Engineering. His work focuses on the environment and sustainable development nexus, primarily in Africa. Dr. Sokona's specific expertise includes the analysis of energy, climate change, desertification, land degradation, water management, and environment. He is adept at working with governments, institutions, legal systems and community support organizations to secure project priorities and funding.

Since 2004, Dr. Sokona has been the Executive Secretary of the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) based in Tunis, Tunisia. OSS represents 21 African States, 4 European Countries, and several African regional organizations and focuses primarily on land degradation and shared groundwater issues in the Sahara sub-region. Dr Sokona serves on several committees sponsored by the World Bank, UNDP and various African Governments. He continues to participate in international climate negotiations and related conventions on climate change, desertification, and biodiversity.

Dr. D.A. Stainforth, Principal Scientist

Dr. Stainforth has a PhD from the University of Oxford (2008), an MSc in Energy Systems and Environmental Management fromGlasgow University (1991) and a BSc in Physics from Queen's College, University of Oxford (1988). As Principal Scientist he works at the interface between climate and decision making, drawing on his new position in a world-leading team at the London School of Economics.