Worldwatch Institute Staff

Biography

Christopher Flavin, President

Phone: +1 (202) 452-1992

Christopher Flavin is President of the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based international research organization focused on energy, resource and environmental issues. Worldwatch is recognized around the world for its pathbreaking work on the global connections between economic, social, and environmental trends. Chris has spent his career at Worldwatch where he previously served as Senior Vice President and Vice President for Research.

Chris is a leading voice on the need to build a low-carbon economy that will meet human needs without undermining the Earth's ecological support systems. He is co-author of three books on energy, including Power Surge: Guide to the Coming Energy Revolution, which anticipated many of the changes now under way in world energy markets. Chris is a regular co-author of the Institute's annual State of the World report, which has been published in 36 languages. He has participated in several historic international conferences, including the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the Climate Change Conference in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997.

Chris is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and serves as a board member of the Climate Institute and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan. He is on the advisory boards of the American Council on Renewable Energy, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, and the Cumulus Climate Fund. He is also a member of the Greentech Innovation Network, an initiative of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Chris speaks frequently to business, university, and policy audiences. His recent appearances include the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, the Ethanol Summit in Sao Paulo, Cleantech Venture Forums in San Francisco and London, the 18th World Petroleum Congress in Johannesburg, the 11th World Congress of Public Health in Rio de Janeiro, the World Affairs Conference in Washington, and a global security conference hosted by the German Foreign Minister in Berlin. Among the colleges and universities he has lectured at are American University, Duke University, George Washington University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Williams College. He also testifies before national and state legislatures and meets frequently with government and international leaders.

Chris appears regularly in the national and international media, including outlets such as the BBC, National Public Radio, CNN, PBS Newshour, and Voice of America. He has also written for a wide range of popular and scholarly journals, including the New York Times, Technology Review, The Harvard International Review, and TIME Magazine.

Chris is a native of Monterey California and a cum laude graduate of Williams College, where he studied economics, biology, and environmental studies.

Selected Publications

"Building a Low-Carbon Economy," in State of the World 2008 (W.W. Norton & Company, 2008).

"China, India, and the New World Order," in State of the World 2006 (W.W. Norton & Company, 2006), co-authored with Gary Gardner.

"Changing the Oil Economy," in State of the World 2005 (W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), co-authored with Tom Prugh and Janet L. Sawin.

Rising Sun, Gathering Winds: Policies to Stabilize the Climate and Strengthen Economies, Worldwatch Paper 138, November 1997, co-authored with Seth Dunn.

Power Surge: Guide to the Coming Energy Revolution (W.W. Norton & Company, 1994).