Dr Robert Glasser

Dr Robert Glasser is the Head of the ASPI Climate and Security Policy Centre.

He was previously the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).  UNISDR, with over 100 staff located in regional offices around the world, is the focal point in the United Nations system for efforts to reduce climate and disaster risk.  He was a member of the Secretary General’s Senior Management Group and the Deputy Secretary General’s Climate Principals Group.

Dr Glasser has over 30 years of experience as a practitioner, advocate, and policymaker in the areas of climate change, sustainable development and disaster response.  Before joining the U.N., he was the Secretary General of CARE International, one of the world’s largest non-governmental humanitarian organisations, with over 10,000 staff active in some 80 countries. From 2003-2007, Dr Glasser was the Chief Executive of CARE Australia. Prior to joining CARE, he was Assistant Director General at the Australian Government aid agency (AusAID) where his responsibilities ranged from South East Asia programs, to Corporate Policy and Infrastructure and Environment. He has also worked on energy and climate change science and policy for the US Department of Energy (Los Alamos National Laboratory) and on peace and conflict issues at a variety of institutions, including the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Cornell University Peace Studies Program and the Centre for International and Strategic Affairs at the University of California.

Dr Glasser is on the board of WaterAid Australia, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and the Climate Action Network Australia. He was previously a board member of the Global Call for Climate Action (GCCA), a global alliance of more than 450 national and international organisations focusing on climate change advocacy and he was the Inaugural Board Chairman of the CHS International Alliance, a new organisation resulting from the merger of People in Aid and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership.  He was also previously the Chair of the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response, a group comprised of the CEOs/Secretary Generals of the largest organisations engaged in disaster response, including the leading INGOs, the International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Dr Glasser was an Advisory Panel member of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor, a member of the Principals Steering Group of the United Nations Transformative Agenda for Humanitarian Action; and a member of the Project Steering Group for the World Economic Forum project on The Future Role of Civil Society.

An Australian national, he has published on several topics, including climate change and disaster risk, peace and conflict, and humanitarian and development policy.