At its graduation ceremony on 31 March 2023, Rhodes University will confer a
degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa) on Professor Debra Roberts, who
heads the Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit in eThekwini Municipality.
Prof Roberts is also the Co-Chair of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) in the Sixth Assessment cycle (AR6).
She is a global authority on urban biodiversity, climate change and resilience issues
that maintains an H-index of over 40 despite being a full-time local government
practitioner. She has won numerous awards for her ground-breaking work and
leadership in Durban.
Prof Roberts established the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection
Department of eThekwini Municipality, which she led from 1994 to 2016. She is well
known for her work in designing the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System and
the development of Durban’s Municipal Climate Protection Programme which
focused on issues of climate change adaptation.
In 2013, she was appointed as the city’s first Chief Resilience Officer and led the
development of the city’s first resilience strategy and related implementation plan.
On a national level, Prof Roberts was a climate change negotiator for South Africa
under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change until 2015, drawing
strongly from her local experiences in the eThekwini Municipality in her global policy
work.
Prof Roberts is a globally respected scientific expert on climate change adaptation.
She was a Lead Author of Chapter 8 (Urban Areas) and a Contributing Author to
Chapter 12 (Africa) of the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth
Assessment Report.
She was elected as Co-Chair of Working Group II for the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment
cycle in 2015, the first time in the history of the IPCC that there has been a South
African Co-Chair and the first woman from Africa to hold such a position. In this role
she has successfully co-led the preparation of all the Working Group II products in
the AR6 cycle. This has included three Special Reports and the Working Group II
main assessment report. She is also a member of the Core Writing Team and
Scientific Steering Committee for the AR6 Synthesis Report.
She has sat on various international bodies focused on urban issues and climate
change. Prof Roberts was a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions
Network Thematic Group on Sustainable Cities involved in mobilising support for the
creation of a city-focused Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 11). She was also a
member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Secretary General’s 2019
Climate Summit; an advisor to the Global Commission on Adaptation – under the
leadership of Ban Ki-moon, Bill Gates and Kristalina Georgieva, and is member of
the UCLG-UBUNTU Advisory Group providing advice to the international Presidency
of UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments).
Prof Roberts has received numerous honours for her work, including Honorary
Professorship at the University of KwaZulu Natal (her alma mater) and Honorary
Doctorates from the University of Twente (Netherlands) and the University of Cape
Town.
In 2014, the AfriCAN Climate Consortium awarded her their AfriCAN Climate
Research Award. She was the 2016 Barbara Ward Lecturer of the International
Institute for Environment and Development. In 2019 she was listed public servant
organisation Apolitical as one of the 100 most influential people in climate change
policy in the world.
Prof Roberts is well respected for her brand of leadership, which focuses on
collaboration and mentorship – especially of young women scientist-practitioners.
Many of her protegees have become leaders in their own right, and have pursued
further studies – including at Rhodes University.
“It is a tremendous honour to receive this recognition from Rhodes University. Not
only for myself, but also for all the practitioner-scientists working in the world’s cities
using science every day to make a difference in people’s lives and helping to create
a more just and sustainable planet,” she said.
Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sizwe Mabizela highlighted Professor
Roberts’ immense national and international contributions to climate change issues
in cities as deserving of an honorary doctorate. “She is recognised and celebrated as
a global authority on urban ecosystem-based adaptations. I am delighted that the
Rhodes University community has seen it fit to honour your many and significant
contributions,” said Professor Mabizela.