Scott Vaughan is IISD President and CEO, and Chair of the IISD Experimental Lakes Area Board. Previously, Scott was Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. As Director of the Department of Sustainable Development, Organization of American States (OAS), his group supported the world’s largest portfolio of transboundary freshwater basin cooperation initiatives, including the eight-country Amazon Treaty Cooperation Organization. He has held positons as Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Head of Economics, NAFTA Environment Commission; and Counsellor, World Trade Organization (WTO).

While at UN Environment, Scott initiated the UNEP Finance Initiative (FI), as well as the environment–trade program, and worked in the office of the UNEP Executive Director. He worked in Economic and Corporate Affairs of the Royal Bank of Canada head office and was a policy advisor to the federal Minister of the Environment (Hon. Charles Caccia). He holds post-graduate degrees from the London School of Economics, University of Edinburgh and Dalhousie University, and an undergraduate degree from Mount Allison University.

Current board and related affiliations include the Mare Nostrum Global Initiative; the Environmental Leadership Council of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce; the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED); the China Eco-Forum Global International Advisory Council; the World Economic Forum (WEF) Stewardship Board for International Trade and Investment; and Smart Prosperity Leaders Initiative. He is Associate Editor of the Chinese Journal of Urban and Environment Studies.