Crispin Tickell

Crispin Tickell in Malaysia in 2005

Sir Crispin Tickell, GCMG, KCVO, MA (Oxon), DSc (Hon)^[1]( Cranfield), FRSGS (Hon), FRIBA (Hon), FZS,^[1] FRI (Hon.), FCIWEM (Hon.) (25 August 1930–) is a British diplomat, environmentalist, and academic.

Background

See also: Huxley family

Tickell is the son of writer Jerrard Tickell and Renée Tickell née Haynes (a great-granddaughter of Thomas Henry Huxley). After secondary education at Westminster School as a King's Scholar, he went to Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1952 with first class honours in Modern History.^[2] He did his national service in the Coldstream Guards as a 2nd Lieutenant from 1952-54.

Diplomatic career

Tickell joined the British diplomatic service in 1954, serving at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London until 1955. He was responsible for looking after the British Antarctic Territory; the experience gained may have laid the foundations for long term interests in the environment.^[1] He then had posting at the British Embassy in The Hague (1955–58));^[1] Mexico City (1958–61); London (1961–64); Paris (1964–70); and Private Secretary various Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster (1970–72) during negotions for the UK entry into the European Community. He was later Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission (1977–1980), British Ambassador to Mexico (1981–1983), Permanent Secretary of the Overseas Development Administration (now Department for International Development) (1984–1987), and British Ambassador to the United Nations and Permanent Representative on the UN Security Council (1987–1990).

He was appointed MVO in 1958 and later knighted as a KCVO in 1983 on the Royal Yacht Britannia, to mark the conclusion of Queen Elizabeth's Official Visit to Mexico. He was appointed GCMG for his work at the UN in 1988.

Spying at U.N. headquarters debate

When Clare Short, former international development secretary in Blair’s Cabinet, said that British intelligence bugged U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s office, Tickell refused to comment on the accuracy of Short's claim, saying he had a continuing duty of loyalty to governments past and present and told the British Broadcasting Corp "What I would say is I would not be surprised if in New York there is a great deal of listening all over the place from one country to another, and I don't know whether it really makes very much difference. My conscience is quite clear about these matters and I would not think it necessarily a bad thing at all if it is in the national interest," Tickell added. "Our friends and allies may indeed be doing something like that themselves.” Tickell also criticized Short for going and called her "your prime loyalty is to your employer and, indeed, to the interests of the country.”^[3]

Academic career

Sir Crispin was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1990 to 1993 and Warden of Green College, Oxford between 1990 and 1997, where he appointed George Monbiot and Norman Myers as Visiting Fellows. Green College merged with Templeton College in 2008 to become Green Templeton College, located at what was previously Green College.

From 1996 until August 2006 he was chancellor of the University of Kent when Sir Robert Worcester took over the position. He is currently director of the Policy Foresight Programme^[4] of the James Martin 21st Century School^[5] at the University of Oxford (formerly the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding) and Chairman Emeritus of the Climate Institute, in Washington DC. He has many interests, including climate change, population issues, conservation of biodiversity and the early history of the Earth.

Tickell helped to write Margaret Thatcher's speech on global climate change.^[6] He chaired John Major's Government Panel on Sustainable Development (1994–2000), and was a member of two government task forces under the Labour Party: one on Urban Regeneration, chaired by Sir Richard Rogers, now Lord Rogers (1998–99), and one on Potentially Hazardous Near-Earth Objects (2000).

Public Impact

A man of strong environmental convictions, he has been described as influential in Britain, although his environmental message has not always travelled as easily abroad, particularly to the United States. His 1977 book 'Climatic Change and World Affairs' argued that mandatory international pollution control would eventually be necessary. Despite his non-scientific background, he is internationally respected as having a strong grasp of science policy issues. He has been the recipient, between 1990 and 2006, of 23 honorary doctorates.^[7]

He is currently the president of the UK charity Tree Aid,^[8] which enables communities in Africa's drylands to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. He is also a patron of Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), and told Radio 4's Today programme that the ideal population for Britain could be around 20 million.^[9] As a member of Lord Rogers' Urban Task Force, Tickell counselled against spreading cities saying that we need denser living, that young adults should not expect to leave home straight away, and that older relatives could live in 'granny flats'^[10]

Personal life

Sir Crispin lives in a converted barn in the Cotswolds.^[11] He married Chloe Gunn in 1954 but the marriage was dissolved in 1976. He has two sons and one daughter from this marriage. His main recreations include climatology, paleohistory, pre-Columbian art and mountains.^[1]

Former appointments

• Non-executive Director, IBM UK (1990–1995)
• Trustee, Natural History Museum (1992–2001)
• Trustee, Baring Foundation (1992–2002)

Publications

• Climate Change and World Affairs, with a preface by Solly Zuckerman (1977, second edition 1986, Harvard International Affairs Committee). second edition available online in full
• Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, with a preface by John Fowles (1996, 1998 and 2003).

Styles and Honours

• Mr Crispin Tickell (1930–1958)
• Mr Crispin Tickell MVO (1958–1983)
• Sir Crispin Tickell KCVO (1983–1988)
• Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO (1988-)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Citation Cranfield University Honorary Graduation
2. ^ Crispin Tickell online CV Accessed 14 April 2007
3. ^ Diplomats not surprised by U.N. spying charge, World news on msnbc.com quoting Associated Press 27 February 2004. Accessed 3 November 2011.
4. ^ http://www.martininstitute.ox.ac.uk/jmi/networks/Policy+Foresight+Programme.htm
5. ^ http://www.martininstitute.ox.ac.uk/jmi/
6. ^ Thatcher, Margaret (1988) The Downing Street Years, London: HarperCollins p.640. ISBN 0006383211
7. ^ Crispin Tickell online CV Accessed 2007-04-14
8. ^ http://www.treeaid.org.uk/
9. ^ Dominic Lawson, A retort to the population control freaks, Independent, 6 November 2007 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-a-retort-to-the-population-control-freaks-399128.html
10. ^ Telegraph, 6 February 1998; Daily Mail, 31 July 2003
11. ^ Who's Who entry, Sir Crispin Tickell

External links

• Archive of his works
• Talk presentated at the RIBA: Sir Crispin Tickell, The Future of Cities: Hazards of Environmental Change(Video)

Offices held

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Norman Ernest Cox	Ambassador to Mexico 1981–1983	Succeeded by Kenneth James
Preceded by John Adam Thomson	UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations 1987–1990	Succeeded by David Hannay
Academic offices
Preceded by Sir Robert Horton	Chancellor of the University of Kent 1995–2006	Succeeded by Sir Robert Worcester

Persondata
Name	Tickell, Crispin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 August 1930
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death