Sir Crispin Tickell, GCMG, KCVO, MA (Oxon), DSc (Hon)[1]( Cranfield), FRSGS (Hon), FRIBA (Hon), FZS[1], FRI (Hon.), FCIWEM (Hon.) (25 August 1930–) is a British diplomat, environmentalist, and academic.
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After secondary education at Westminster School as a King's Scholar, he went to Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1952 with first class honours in Modern History.[2] He did his national service in the Coldstream Guards as a 2nd Lieutenant from 1952-54.
Tickell joined the British diplomatic service in 1954, serving at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London until 1955. He was responsible for looking after the British Antarctic Territory; the experience gained may have laid the foundations for long term interests in the environment[1]. He then had posting at the British Embassy in The Hague (1955-58))[1]; Mexico City (1958-61); London (1961-64); Paris (1964-70); and Private Secretary various Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster (1970-72) during negotions for the UK entry into the European Community. He was later Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission (1977-1980), British Ambassador to Mexico (1981-1983), Permanent Secretary of the Overseas Development Administration (now Department for International Development) (1984-1987), and British Ambassador to the United Nations and Permanent Representative on the UN Security Council (1987-1990).
He was appointed MVO in 1958 and later knighted as a KCVO in 1983 on the Royal Yacht Britannia, to mark the conclusion of Queen Elizabeth's Official Visit to Mexico. He was appointed GCMG for his work at the UN in 1988.
Sir Crispin was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1990 to 1993 and Warden of Green College, Oxford between 1990 and 1997, where he appointed George Monbiot and Norman Myers as Visiting Fellows. From 1996 until August 2006 he was chancellor of the University of Kent when Sir Robert Worcester took over the position. He is currently director of the Policy Foresight Programme[3] of the James Martin 21st Century School[4] at the University of Oxford (formerly the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding) and Chairman Emeritus of the Climate Institute, in Washington DC. He has many interests, including climate change, population issues, conservation of biodiversity and the early history of the Earth.
His worldwide status as an authority on climate change is all the more surprising because he has no formal academic training in this area and has formed his opinion by self-teaching.
Tickell helped to write Margaret Thatcher's speech on global climate change[5]. He chaired John Major's Government Panel on Sustainable Development (1994-2000), and was a member of two government task forces under the Labour Party: one on Urban Regeneration, chaired by Sir Richard Rogers, now Lord Rogers (1998-99), and one on Potentially Hazardous Near-Earth Objects (2000).
A man of strong environmental convictions, he has been described as influential in Britain, although his environmental message has not always travelled as easily abroad, particularly to the United States. His 1977 book 'Climatic Change and World Affairs' argued that mandatory international pollution control would eventually be necessary. Despite his non-scientific background, he is internationally respected as having a strong grasp of science policy issues. He has been the recipient, between 1990 and 2006, of 23 honorary doctorates[6].
He is currently the president of the UK charity TREE AID,[7] which enables communities in Africa's drylands to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. He is also a patron of the Optimum Population Trust, and told Radio 4's Today programme that the ideal population for Britain could be around 20 million [8]. As a member of Lord Rogers' Urban Task Force, Tickell counselled against spreading cities saying that we need denser living, that young adults should not expect to leave home straight away, and that older relatives could live in 'granny flats'[9]
Sir Crispin lives in a converted barn in the Cotswolds[10]. He married Chloe Gunn in 1954 but the marriage was dissolved in 1976. He has two sons and one daughter from this marriage. His main recreations include climatology, paleohistory, pre-Columbian art and mountains.[1]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Norman Ernest Cox |
Ambassador to Mexico 1981–1983 |
Succeeded by Kenneth James |
| Preceded by John Adam Thomson |
UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations 1987–1990 |
Succeeded by David Hannay |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Robert Horton |
Chancellor of the University of Kent 1995–2006 |
Succeeded by Sir Robert Worcester |
   | Archive of his works - Crispin Tickell: Home. |
| | Policy Foresight Programme - University of Oxford, Saïd Business School: Institute for Science, Innovation and Society |
| | James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization - University of Oxford, Saïd Business School: Institute for Science, Innovation and Society |
| | Alarm at plan to halve UK population - Alarm at plan to halve UK population | UK news | The Observer |
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