WWF Experts

David Reed

David Reed

Senior Vice President Policy

Education

  • PhD - Development Economics, University of Geneva, Switzerland
  • MA - Sociology of Developing Countries, University of Geneva, Switzerland
  • BA - Political Science, Beloit College

Areas of Expertise

  • Poverty and the environment
  • Trade, rural livelihoods and the environment
  • The Global Environment Facility
  • Governance and natural resource wealth
  • Economic reforms, social equity and environmental sustainability
  • Public-private partnerships and carbon finance

"We want to encourage economic development, but it has to be development that's sustainable and equitable."

About David Reed:

David earned his undergraduate degree in political science in 1970 - and earned his PhD in the field of development economics 29 years later. In between is half a lifetime of exploration, discovery, and conservation achievement. For the last 18 years, David has led WWF's Macroeconomics Program Office, emerging as a published author and global expert on the complex relationships between macroeconomic policies, social structures and the environment in developing countries. He has built working partnerships with a dozen international development agencies and coordinated numerous policy campaigns directed at the IMF, World Bank and other global organizations and governments.

Back in 1970, however, David was a young man from a small town eager to see the world. He started in Peru, helping to reconstruct dams, schools, roads and bridges after a catastrophic earthquake. David moved on to rural development near Lake Titicaca where he focused on education, economic development and healthcare - program areas that would shape his ideas for the next 35 years.

WWF experts listed in this section are not available to respond to program-related questions from people outside of WWF. We encourage you to search other sections of our website for the answers you need. If you have member-related questions, please contact our call center at 800-960-0993. If you are a member of the media, please go to our newsroom page to contact a member of the media team.

Publications

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: An Environmental Opportunity. David Reed, editor. WWF, Multilateral Development Bank Program. 1990.

The Global Environment Facility: Sharing Responsibility for the Biosphere, Vol. I. By David Reed. 1991.

The Global Environment Facility: Sharing Responsibility for the Biosphere, Vol. II. David Reed, editor. 1992.

The Global Environment Facility: Sharing Responsibility for the Biosphere, Vol. III Incremental Costs Analysis in Addressing Global Environmental Problems. By Amanda Wolf with David Reed. 1994.

Books
Escaping Poverty's Grasp: The Environmental Foundations of Poverty Reduction. David Reed, editor. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London. 2006.

Economic Change, Governance and Natural Resource Wealth: The Political Economy of Change in Southern Africa. By David Reed. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London. 2001.

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