K. N. Ninan


Karachepone N. Ninan is an ecological economist. Dr. Ninan was born in Nairobi, Kenya where he had his early school education. Thereafter he relocated to India where he continued his high school and college education.

Early life and education

Dr. Ninan obtained his bachelor's degree in economics, Political Science and Indian History from the University of Kerala in 1972 and master's degree in economics from the University of Kerala in 1974. He was awarded a PhD fellowship by the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore and obtained Ph.D. in economics from the University of Mysore in 1985. He also attended an International Summer School in Development Economics and Mathematics for Economists at the London School of Economics during June–August 1992.

Career

Dr. Ninan joined the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore in 1978 where he held several research and faculty positions between 1978 and 2012. He became Professor of Ecological Economics in 2006 and held this position until August 2012. He was also Head of the Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources in the same institute. In February 2013, along with two colleagues, he founded the Centre for Economics, Environment and Society, a non-profit organisation in Bangalore working in the interface of development and environment and has been its chairperson and Honorary Professor since then.

Awards and honours

Dr Ninan has had a distinguished professional career. He was invited as Visiting Professor at several international Universities and Institutions where he taught and/or conducted research in ecological/environmental economics especially on the economics and valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, sustainable use and management of forest and water resources, and climate economics. These include: University of Versailles, France ; University of Tokyo ; University of California, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, Santa Barbara, USA ; University of Cambridge, UK ; and ICCR Chair Professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
He has received numerous awards and fellowships. These include: National Merit Scholarship ; University Merit Scholarship. He was awarded Visiting Fellowships of: British Council Visitor to CSERGE, University College London and London School of Economics ; Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo ; Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK ; Indo-French Exchange Fellowship at Maison Des Sciences De L’Homme, Paris ; Japan Foundation Research Fellowship at University of Tokushima and University of Tokyo, and Japan Society for Promotion of Science Long Term Invitation Fellowship at University of Tokyo. He was appointed as a Senior Fellow in the World Resources Institute, New Delhi

Research

Dr Ninan's research has focused on understanding the economics and institutional aspects of biodiversity conservation in the tropical forests of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in Southern India which is one of the thirty-five biodiversity hotspots in the world. His work among the local communities of the tropical forests of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot is noteworthy. Besides economics and valuation of biodiversity and forest ecosystem services Dr. Ninan's research has focused on sustainable use and management of forest and water resources; sustainable agriculture; impact assessment of watershed and community forestry projects; climate resilience, adaptation and climate change impacts; and poverty studies.

Publications

He has published about 14 books and 70 papers on these topics. His books include:
He has published papers in top rated journals such as:
  • Recognising the Value of Biodiversity- New Approaches to Policy Assessment, chapter 4 in Patrick ten Brink, The TEEB Report for National and Policy Making
His articles in newspapers/weeklies include the following:
  • COVID-19 vaccines: politics, nationalism and diplomacy.
  • US presidential elections: Abki Baar Biden Sarkar.
  • Match fixing in academic institutions.
  • What previous PMs did
  • New farm laws: for farmers or corporates. '''
  • Draft EIA 2020: Inviting pandemics, disasters.
  • In light of COVID-19: Kerala model vs Gujarat model.
  • COVID-19: building resilience to pandemics.
  • India's forests are thriving-on paper.
  • Ease of doing business in India-myths and realities.
  • Extreme events and disasters: building resilience is key.
  • Hunger amidst prosperity: of what use is fast growth.
  • The vulnerable sidelined.
  • Can India survive without black money.

Recognition

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to scientific knowledge and understanding about the economics of biodiversity conservation and valuation of forest ecosystem services, Dr Ninan was nominated as Co-chair of a global assessment with over eighty scientists and experts from around the world to prepare a Methodological Assessment Report on Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in 2014. Dr. Ninan was also part of the Phase 2 team of this IPBES deliverable that was tasked with developing an evolving guide for policy makers on the use of scenarios and models of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and develop scenarios suited for IPBES. Dr Ninan was also Contributing Author to UNEP's TEEB Report on National and International Policy Making.
He was recently invited as Lead Author for Working Group III contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Dr Ninan's expertise in biodiversity and ecosystem services valuation and climate economics has also been sought by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. He was selected as an expert member of study teams constituted by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to advise the government on biodiversity and ecosystem services and prepare India's response to the Durban Platform on Climate Change. In 2016 he was elected as the Vice President of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics which is the regional chapter of the International Society for Ecological Economics. In 2018 he was elected as President of INSEE for the period 2018–2020. In 2020 he was honoured and conferred the title of Honorary INSEE Fellow by the Indian Society for Ecological Economics.