David King (scientist)

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Sir David King
Born	August 12, 1939 South Africa
Residence	UK
Fields	Physical Chemistry, Climate Change, International Development
Institutions	University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of East Anglia
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand
Notable awards	Rumford Medal 2002, Knight Bachelor 2003

Sir David A. King FRS (born August 12, 1939) is the Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Director of Research at the University of Cambridge, President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and a senior scientific adviser to UBS [1]. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to H.M. Government under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and Head of the Government Office for Science from October 2000 to 31 December 2007. In that time, he raised the profile of the need for governments to act on climate change and was instrumental in creating the new £1 billion Energy Technologies Institute. In 2008 he co-authored “The Hot Topic” (Bloomsbury 2008) on this subject ^[1].

[edit] Academic Career

He was born in South Africa in 1939, and after an early career at the University of Witwatersrand, Imperial College and the University of East Anglia, King became the Brunner Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Liverpool in 1974. In 1988 he was appointed 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge and subsequently became Master of Downing College (1995 – 2000) and Head of the University Chemistry Department (1993 – 2000). During this time, King, together with Gabor Somorjai and Gerhard Ertl, shaped the discipline of surface science and helped to explain the underlying principles of heterogeneous catalysis. Controversially, the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Ertl alone [[2]].

King has published over 500 papers on his research in chemical physics and on science and policy, and has received numerous prizes, Fellowships and Honorary Degrees. King was knighted in 2003. He continues as Director of Research in the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University.

[edit] Government

During his tenure as Chief Scientific Adviser has raised public awareness for climate change and initiated several foresight studies. As Director of the Government’s Foresight Programme, he created an in-depth horizon scanning process which advised government on a wide range of long term issues, from flooding to obesity ^{[2] [3]}. He also chaired the government’s Global Science and Innovation Forum from its inception. King advised the government on issues including: The foot-and-mouth disease epidemic 2001; post 9/11 risks to the UK; GM foods; energy provision; and innovation and wealth creation; and he was heavily involved in the Government’s Science and Innovation Strategy 2004-2014. He suggested that scientists should honour a Hippocratic Oath for Scientists.

In his role of scientific advisor to the UK government King was outspoken on the subject of climate change, saying "I see climate change as the greatest challenges facing Britain and the World in the 21st century" [3] and "climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today - more serious even than the threat of terrorism" [4][5].

He strongly supports the work of the IPCC, saying in 2004 that the 2001 synthesis report is the best current statement on the state of play of the science of climate change, and that really does represent 1,000 scientists [6]

King has criticised the Bush administration for what he sees as its failures in climate change policy, saying it is: failing to take up the challenge of global warming [7].

Al Gore and Sir David King at the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment held at Oxford University in July 2009.

King told The Independent newspaper in February 2007 "he agreed that organic food was no safer than chemically-treated food" and openly supported a study by the Manchester Business School that implicated organic farming practices in unfavourable CO2 comparisons with conventional chemical farming.

In an article published in The Guardian on February 13, 2009, King is quoted as saying that 'Future historians might look back on our particular recent past and see the Iraq war as the first of the conflicts of this kind - the first of the resource wars' and that this was 'certainly the view' (that the invasion was motivated by a desire to secure energy supplies) he held at the time of the invasion, along with 'quite a few people in government' [8]

Energy

King is a strong supporter of nuclear electricity generation, arguing that it's a safe, technically feasible solution that can help to reduce emissions from the utilities sector now, while the development of alternative low-carbon solutions is incentivised[[9]]. In the tranportation sector King has critisised first generation biofuels due to the effect on food prices and consequent effect on the developing world. He has, on the other hand, openly supported second generation biofuels, biofuels, which are manufactured from inedible biomass such as corn stover, wood chips or straw and hence, avoid the conversion of food into fuel ^[4] (see food vs fuel).

King appears in the new film The Age of Stupid, set for release in February 2009, talking about Hurricane Katrina.

[edit] World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment

The inaugural Times Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, a three day conference in July 2009, was hailed a triumph by Sir David King after former US Vice President Al Gore, Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, and President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives were amongst many giving rousing speeches. The event was staged to find ways of reducing the dependence of many of the world’s economies on high carbon fuels and promote development in poor states based on low-carbon resources. More than 200 of the world’s top climate thinkers and doers attended with many showing that renewable technologies are there and that industry is ready to switch. Both Al Gore and Sir David chastised the governments of rich nations for doing too little to act on this and lead the way in cutting emissions.

[edit] External links

[edit] Biographical

• Sir David King at the University of Cambridge
• Sir David King at the University of Oxford
• BBC's biography of Sir David King

• David King's article on climate change at www.chinadialogue.net
• 'Profile: Professor Sir David King' by Alison Benjamin, The Guardian, 27 November 2007.
• Sir David King: Building a Sustainable Future Lecture presented at the Royal Institute of British Architecture 2007 (Video)

[edit] References