David Jensen is the coordinator of the Digital Transformation subrogramme at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In this capacity, he is responsible for helping to accelerate UNEP’s work on climate stability, nature protection and pollution prevention using data and digital technologies. He is also currently serving as UNEP’s focal point in the Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES) within the Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. He has been one of the key drivers behind the CODES Action Plan for a Sustainable Planet in the Digital Age. David has been advising the UN Science Policy Business Forum on digitalizing sustainability since 2018 and was the co-author of a discussion paper entitled The Case for a Digital Ecosystem for the Environment. Within the digital space, David has co-founded numerous digital platforms including CODES, STRATA, MapX, Earthschool, AI for the Planet, the UN Biodiversity Lab, and the Environmental Peacebuilding Platform.
Prior to his work on digital transformation, David was the Head of Policy and Innovation at the Crisis Management Branch of UNEP. From 2009 to 2016, David was a thought leader in a new multidisciplinary field of environmental peacebuilding. This focused on the role of natural resources, environmental degradation and climate change as a conflict driver as well as an opportunity for collaboration between divided groups. David was one of the faculty members of the Massive Open Online Course on Environmental Security and Sustaining Peace – offered by the SDG Academy. David is also a founding board member of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association and has appeared on TEDx in the talk: Natural resources and peacebuilding: is the United Nations united? A summary of his work in this field is available here.
David holds an MSc in Biology from Oxford University (UK) and an undergraduate degree in Geography and Political Science from the University of Victoria (Canada).
