Katherine Richardson

Professor Katherine Richardson is a leading figure in biological oceanography at the University of Copenhagen, where she serves as the Head of the Sustainability Science Centre. With a distinguished career, she has chaired significant initiatives, including the Scientific Steering Committee for the Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions conference aimed at informing the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Additionally, she led the Danish Commission on Climate Change Policy, which developed Denmark's roadmap to eliminate fossil fuels from its energy and transport sectors. Her research, conducted at the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, focuses on biogeochemical processes in the surface ocean and their interactions with climate change and biodiversity, particularly regarding their impact on the global carbon cycle. As a co-leader of the Planetary Boundaries framework, she aims to define a safe operating space for humanity concerning environmental perturbations. Katherine has been appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to contribute to the drafting of the Global Sustainable Development Report. With over 100 scientific publications to her name, she remains an influential voice in sustainability science and climate policy.