Inaugural lecture Prof. Patrick Verkooijen: The Resilience Endgame
| When: | Fr 14-02-2025 16:15 - 17:00 |
| Where: | Aula Academy Building, Broerstraat 5, Groningen |
Inaugural lecture: Prof P.V.D.J. (Patrick) Verkooijen
- Title: The Resilience Endgame
- Chair: Climate Adaptation and Global Governance
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Faculty: Campus Fryslân and Faculty of Spatial Sciences
Registration please at the latest 7 February via the registration form.
Livestream on 14 February, see: www.rug.nl/digitale-oratie
The Resilience Endgame: Scaling Up Adaptation for a Sustainable Future
In his inaugural lecture at the University of Groningen, Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen will present The Resilience Endgame, making the case that society has no choice but to rapidly scale up climate adaptation—not only as a necessity but as an unprecedented opportunity to drive jobs, growth, and sustainable development.
With climate risks escalating, adaptation is often framed as an obligation. However, Verkooijen will argue that adaptation is an economic strategy—one that fosters innovation, resilience, and equity while securing long-term prosperity. He will explore how strategic adaptation investments can enhance economic resilience, social stability, and environmental sustainability, demonstrating that proactive adaptation measures are not just defensive but transformative.
Biography
Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen is the CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, the foremost international organization dedicated to the challenge of adapting our world to the global climate emergency.
He also serves as Distinguished Chair of the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi and as the Ban Ki-moon Chair on Climate Adaptation Governance at the University of Groningen.
As founding CEO of the GCA, Prof. Verkooijen has built a global organization supporting active adaptation projects in over 30 countries. Together with African Development Bank President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina he is the architect of the world’s largest adaptation program, the $25 billion dollar Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, which has already shaped over $6 billion of resilient investments on the world’s most climate-vulnerable continent since its inception in 2021. Working with heads of state and government from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, Prof. Verkooijen organized more than half a dozen Summits of world leaders aimed at elevating the cause of climate adaptation, including as co-convenor of the Global Commission on Adaptation.