Don Henry awarded Order of Australia

Prof Don Henry has been awarded an Order of Australia as recognition for his significant work in protecting Australia's native wildlife and the environment. Prof Henry has dedicated his career to campaiging on environmental issues and received an AM as part of the 2018 Australia Day honours.

Don Henry joined Melbourne University in May 2014 and is based in the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute as an Enterprise Professor of Environmentalism. Prof Henry's role is to stimulate and enhance public debate and policy by working with researchers, government, civil society, global institutions, and business. He provides leadership and vision in the fields of environmental policy development and reform, climate change, and sustainability.

Don is also an International Board Member of The Climate Reality Project and is the strategy advisor to its Chair, the Hon. Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States. His current research engagement program is to support the Paris Agreement on climate change, negotiated by the global community in December 2015. This work aims to encourage greater ambition in its goals and to build support for a strong ‘ratchet mechanism’, including five-yearly reviews of national commitments. Don and his team are highlighting the role of key strategic countries in the implementation of the Agreement, such as India, the Philippines, China, Australia and Brazil. Don is also leading work examining and encouraging Indigenous and conservation outcomes in Northern Australia and collaborative processes for forest protection and sustainable use in Victoria and Tasmania. By holding a ‘seat at the table’ in key discussions on the environment, Don Henry provides an unparalleled opportunity for MSSI, the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, and the wider University, to influence national and global decision-making.

Prior to his time at ACF, Don was based in Washington DC where he served with The World Wildlife Fund as director of the Global Forest program (1996-98), and as director of the WWF Asia-Pacific and South Pacific programs. In Australia, Don Henry has held the post of director at both WWF-Australia and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland.

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