Meet the Team

Professor David Johnson

Special Advisor

Previously Executive Secretary to the OFSPAR Commission, the international convention for the environmental protection of the North-East Atlantic, David (UK) brings a wealth of experience in the protection of biodiversity in high seas.

David’s reports have included recommendations for the establishment of the world’s first network of marine protected areas in Area Beyond National Jurisdiction (2010/2012); and he has convened Ministerial meetings for both the OSPAR Commission and the Bonn Agreement, moderated sessions for both the United Nations Environment Programme and the Convention on Biological Diversity, and has presented at many high-level meetings including the UN Working Group, Preparatory Committee and subsequent Intergovernmental Conferences on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction. He has also successfully concluded and operationalised partnership arrangements between OSPAR and the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, the UN International Maritime Organization and the International Seabed Authority. 

He is currently: a registered expert with GESAMP (the group of independent scientific experts that provides advice to the UN system on scientific aspects of marine environmental protection); is a Visiting Professor at the World Maritime University in Sweden; is the Coordinator for the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI); and leads the science-policy interface work in the EU ATLAS Project.