Mr. Vijai Sharma is Chairman of the Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests, a non-profit organization in India, working on the environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainable forestry management with the objective of developing certification standards. He was in the Indian Administrative Service. Has been Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change; Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat of India; Member of the National Green Tribunal; Chief Information Commissioner of India. Experience includes environment and forest legislation and policy; industrial and vehicular pollution control; hazardous substances management; biomedical wastes; trade-and-environment; biodiversity; afforestation and forest conservation; wildlife management and tiger protection. Mr. Sharma was India’s National Focal Point on Climate Change and Ozone; and Special Adviser to Executive Director of UNEP. He was key in the establishment of the National Environment Appellate Authority; the National Ganga River Basin Authority; and the National Green Tribunal. Mr. Sharma was Secretary to the State Government of Uttar Pradesh in the departments of Housing, Environment and Energy; and Chairperson, State Pollution Control Board. Mr. Sharma has law degrees from University College London and Harvard Law School. He has co-authored two books on India’s historical forts.
