Dr. Charles McNeill

Dr. Charles McNeill

Advisor

For over 25 years, Dr. McNeill has been a leader in the United Nations' work on sound environmental management in the developing world. He is currently the Senior Advisor on Forests & Climate for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and is overseeing the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, an international alliance bringing faith-based leadership to local and global efforts to end tropical deforestation. Previously, Dr. McNeill managed UNDP’s work on forests, biodiversity, climate change, sustainable energy, stakeholder engagement, the SDGs and public-private partnerships. In that capacity he founded and led catalytic global initiatives, including the Indigenous Peoples Initiative for the Paris Climate Conference (2015), the global coalition that delivered the New York Declaration on Forests at the 2014 UN Climate Summit, the UN-REDD Programme (2008-2016) and the Equator Initiative (2002-2014). In the 1990s, Dr. McNeill developed Global Environment Facility (GEF) programs throughout Africa and then managed GEF global programming and policy. Prior to the UN, he worked with NGOs 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, Dr. McNeill held several academic posts addressing a range of environmental and development issues.