Rt Hon Simon Upton joins University of Otago

Former Cabinet Minister Simon Upton is joining the University of Otago as a Visiting Fellow.

Mr Upton works internationally with governments, businesses and research institutions on climate change and wider sustainability issues. Until recently he chaired the Round Table on Sustainable Development at the OECD in Paris, a post he held for six years.

Vice-Chancellor David Skegg said Mr Upton, also a former Rhodes Scholar, would bring enormous knowledge and experience to the University.

"Simon Upton is one of New Zealand's leading intellectuals, who can contribute to debate across the whole range of science, the humanities, and business. His experience in public office in New Zealand and internationally will help in translating Otago research and scholarship into action that assists national and international progress," says Professor Skegg.

Mr Upton says he is looking forward to working with Otago academics.

"Otago provides me with the opportunity to work with a leading New Zealand university to help forge links between researchers and the wider community. The risk of significant climate change has caused us to question whether we can any longer live as though there are no environmental constraints."

Mr Upton says that sustaining human progress without irreparably damaging our planet's life-support systems is the challenge of our age. "We have spent a quarter of a century defining the problem. Moving to internalise the consequences for the way we live will require sustained engagement by governments and businesses. Universities represent one of the few ‘banks' on which we can draw heavily to meet this challenge."

Mr Upton will be based in the School of Business and work with researchers across the University.

Dean of the School of Business, Professor George Benwell, says Mr Upton had already brought some excellent research opportunities to the School.

"As part of our growth, the School needs to be working closely with researchers in other parts of the University as well as the wider business community. Simon Upton is already working with one of our economists and a legal expert from the Faculty of Law on a project that will have international impact.

"His excellent reputation, networks and contacts both within New Zealand and further afield will be invaluable to the School and the University," says Professor Benwell.

Background
Simon Upton is a New Zealander who has recently returned from six years in France where he was chairperson of the Round Table on Sustainable Development at the OECD. The Round Table is a high- level multi-stakeholder forum that brings together ministers, senior management from inter-governmental organisations, private sector executives, academics and non-governmental organisations.

Originally elected to the NZ House of Representatives in 1981, he was a senior Cabinet Minister for nine years between 1990 and 1999, applying himself to a wide array of portfolios. He was the minister responsible for research, science and technology for the entire period and minister for the environment for almost as long. He also held the portfolios of health, cultural affairs, biosecurity, state services, associate minister of finance and associate minister of foreign affairs.

He became a prominent figure in international environmental negotiations, chairing the 7th Session of the Commission of Sustainable Development in New York in 1998-9 and the inaugural meetings of the Round Table on Sustainable Development at the OECD. He was subsequently invited to develop its role into a full-time independent forum in 2000 and continued to chair it through to January 2007. He continues to work with the OECD in a part-time capacity.

Since leaving the Round Table, Mr Upton has applied himself to a variety of policy and business projects. He is currently chairman of a small start-up company, Containerscan Ltd, owned by one of New Zealand's leading research institutes; a director of Holcim (NZ) Ltd; and a consultant to Pricewaterhouse Coopers in New Zealand. He is also the Director of the Global Subsidies Initiative, a research-based project sponsored by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

Other commitments include membership of the Advisory Board to the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, the board of the Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University and the International Council for Sustainable Innovation of Switzerland (ISIS).

Mr Upton is a former Rhodes Scholar who has degrees in English literature, music and law from the University of Auckland and an MLitt in political philosophy from Oxford University. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1999, and made a member of the Privy Council in the same year. He finished off his parliamentary career after 19 years by being named as a member of the World Economic Forum's "dream cabinet".

Mr Upton is 50, married, and has two school-age children. His private interests include music (he is a pianist), literature and landscape gardening on his farming property south of Auckland, New Zealand. He also runs and skis.