Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, considered one of the world’s leading thinkers on energy, sustainable development and climate change, has been appointed Director General of the Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI) at The University of Manchester.

He will head the body which aims to help deliver a revolution in green consumption through providing world class and authoritative research in this area. He will start the role in September 2008.

The Sri Lankan-born academic is Vice Chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading scientific body evaluating the risk of climate change caused by human activity, and co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. The SCI was established following a £25 million investment from Tesco, according to a statement issued by Prof. Munasinghe’s office.

Prof. Munasinghe, who will work part-time for the SCI, will be lead author on key research reports produced by the Institute and conduct research related to sustainable consumption and sustainable development. He will also supervise research projects and conduct discussions with governments, top level business leaders, policy makers and NGOs in the UK and abroad.