Scott Vaughan

Senior Fellow

Scott Vaughan is the International Chief Advisor to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) and an IISD Senior Fellow. Until early 2019, he was president and CEO of IISD and chair of the IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) board. Before his work at IISD, Scott served as Canada’s federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development; director of the Department of Sustainable Development, Organization of American States (OAS); Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; head of Economics and Trade, NAFTA Environment Commission; and counsellor, World Trade Organization (WTO). 

At UN Environment, he initiated the UNEP Financial Initiative (UNEP FI), headed the UNEP Environment and Trade work, and worked in the office of the UNEP executive director. Scott has also worked in economic and corporate affairs in the head office at RBC Financial Group and in the office of the Canadian federal Minister of the Environment. Current affiliations include associate with the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, associate editor of the Chinese Journal of Urban and Environment Studies and member of the advisory committee of the Global Development Center, Boston University. He is a graduate of Mount Allison University, Dalhousie University, the University of Edinburgh and the London School of Economics.  

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Areas of expertise
Trade
Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Finance
Governance and Multilateral Agreements
Adaptive Governance and Policy
Carbon Pricing
Climate Change and Governance
Cross-Border Renewable Energy Governance
Economic Development
Free Trade (North America)
GDP
Global Political Economy
Global Value Chains
Governance
Green Economy Strategies
Intergovernmental Policy
International and Regional Trade Law
International Development Bodies
International Economic Governance
International Economic Law
International Negotiations
International Organizations
Investment and Sustainable Development
Supply Chain Management
Trade and Development
Trade and the Environment
Trade Negotiations
UNFCCC Processes
Staff type
Experts
Senior Fellows