Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati

Dr. Balakrishna currently is the Vice-Chancellor of TransDisciplinary University based in India. He has joined the newly established State University, the first of its kind in India, focusing on transdisciplinary work on areas including conservation, health, sustainable development, governance and law. Previously, he headed UNEP’s work on biodiversity, multilateral environmental agreements and the SDGs based in Nairobi, Kenya. He oversees work related synergies and interlinkages among the environmental conventions and national implementation among other responsibilities at UNEP.

Mr. Pisupati has held several senior positions within the United Nations such as the Chief of Land Law, Biodiversity and Governance at UNEP, coordinator of Biodiplomacy Programme at the United Nations University. He was the youngest Secretary to the Government of India when he was appointed as the Chairman of National Biodiversity Authority, a statutory body of Government of India in 2011. He also served as the Head of Asia Regional Programme of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). He is a lead authority in the area of biodiversity and development with special focus on issues such as access and benefit sharing, biotrade and governance issues.