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Staff and Associates

Javed Ahmad


Since October 2005, Javed Ahmad has been serving as Communication Director for the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI), an ambitious programme developed by IISD, aimed at improving information on the extent and effects of subsidies, especially those that are harming developing countries or the environment. Since September 1st, 2009, he has been appointed Acting Director of Communications for IISD, pending the appointment of long-term director by the future President and CEO. This assignment is expected to last nine months.

Born in Karachi, Javed grew up in Rome, England and Geneva where, as a Swiss citizen, he is based. His academic qualifications cover three fields: Pure and Applied Physics (Astrophysics, Oxford University), Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering (Ecole Polytechnique fédérale, Lausanne), and Fine Arts specialising in etching (Ecole supérieure d’Art visuel, Geneva).

Javed began professional life managing international media relations on behalf of a cultural foundation, travelling for five years to some of the world’s remotest areas. In the mid-eighties he set up Syntagme S.A., Switzerland’s first multinational communication firm dedicated to science, technology and the environment, with branches in France, Belgium, Germany and the U.S.A. In 1990, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan asked him to design and set up Alp Action, an international public-private funding programme for nature and cultural conservation projects. Within seven years, 135 such projects were launched, through the mobilization of some US$ 70 million from the private sector, with the support of the World Economic Forum and major corporate and media partners, including Reuters, Newsweek International, EuroNews and the BBC. Javed then moved on to become Director of Communication and Environmental Education of IUCN – The World Conservation Union where, among other developments, he established the organisation’s first corporate partnerships to fund a global communication coordination network, a Global Youth Reporters programme and the Reuters-IUCN Media Awards, the annual international prize for environmental reporting. More recently, Javed moved into the private sector as C.E.O. of Global Responsibility, a Swedish, Danish and Monaco-based industry consortium for corporate transparency and accountability.

Javed has drawn on his media partnerships and media-capacity-building experience to help profile the IISD’s Global Subsidies Initiative on the international stage within just three years. He continues to practice as an artist and has exhibited throughout Europe. He has also produced over 30 internationally-broadcast television documentaries and several publications on sustainable development.

Javed Ahmad is no longer affiliated with IISD.

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