Pascal Girot
| Pascal Girot | |
|---|---|
| Born | France |
| 🏳️ Nationality |  Costa Rica France |
| 🎓 Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison (M.Sc.) Clark University (B.A.) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Lead Author for IPCC reports Director of the School of Geography (UCR) |
Pascal Olivier Girot Pignot is a French-Costa Rican geographer and climate policy expert. He is a leading international authority on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation.
He currently serves as the Director of the School of Geography at the University of Costa Rica (UCR).[1] Previously, he served as a senior advisor to the Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (2014–2018) during the negotiation of the Paris Agreement.
Education
Girot holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Geography and International Development from Clark University (1981) and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Geography from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1984). He also completed post-graduate studies at the University of Paris III.
Career
Academic Work
Girot has been a professor at the University of Costa Rica for over 30 years. His research focuses on political geography and the social construction of risk. He is a member of **LA RED** (Network of Social Studies in the Prevention of Disasters in Latin America), a pioneering group that shifted the global focus from "natural disasters" to "socially constructed risks."
International Policy
- **IPCC:** He served as a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), contributing to the structural understanding of how climate change impacts vulnerable populations in the Global South.
- **CARE International:** For several years, he acted as the Regional Climate Change Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean for CARE International.
- **IUCN:** He has led various high-level technical groups for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), specifically developing the "Ecosystem-based Adaptation" (EbA) framework.
Government Advisory (2014–2018)
From 2014 to 2018, Girot served as the key climate negotiator and advisor to Minister Edgar Gutiérrez. In this role, he helped design Costa Rica's **Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)** submitted to the UNFCCC.[2]
Selected Publications
- *The Americas* (World Boundaries Series), Routledge, 1994.
- *Integrating Community and Ecosystem-Based Approaches in Climate Change Adaptation Responses*, ELAN, 2012.
- Various chapters in the *Routledge Handbook on Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction*.
References
- ↑ Pascal Girot Pignot: Director de la Escuela de Geografía. Universidad de Costa Rica. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
- ↑ Contribución Prevista y Determinada a Nivel Nacional de Costa Rica. MINAE. 2015.
