Mark New

Mark New is Pro-Vice Chancellor for Climate Change and Director of the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI). He holds a joint appointment as Professor of International Development at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. As Pro-VC for Climate Change he is responsible for the ACDI and the coordination of cutting-edge research and teaching at UCT on the twin issues of low carbon and climate resilient development, from a strongly African perspective. In 2016 Mark was awarded the AXA Chair in African Climate Risk. His research programme is focused on quantifying and understanding the changing risk of climate on water and food security in southern Africa. It brings together expertise in climate and weather risk attribution, statistical sciences, hydrological and agricultural sciences, and economics to: (i) quantify the human influence on both climate risk and hydrological/agricultural system exposure; (ii) to apportion socio-economic damage between these human influences and natural processes; and (iii) to evaluate the return on investment – both financial and human – of mechanisms to reduce the sensitivity of exposed water and food systems to climate change. Close interactions with public, private sector and civil society organisations during the programme help to maximise the societal impact of the research.