The University of the West Indies

Institute of Sustainable Development

The Institute for Sustainable Development

Professor Anthony Clayton

Professor Anthony Clayton is the Alcan Professor of Caribbean Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Environmental Strategy in the School of Engineering at the University of Surrey; Visiting Professor at the Institute for Studies of Science, Technology and Innovation in the School of Social and Political Studies at the University of Edinburgh; Adjunct Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Development in the Faculty of Business and Management, University of Technology, Affiliated Scholar at the Jack Gordon Institute for Public Policy within the Steven Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University, Fellow of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences, where he serves as the Chairman of the Membership Advisory Committee for Social and Economic Sciences, and he was the first person to be appointed a Distinguished Fellow of the Caribbean Association of Eastern European Trained Professionals. In 2015 he was awarded Jamaica’s Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander.

Professor Clayton currently serves as a Member of the Government of Jamaica Climate Change Advisory Board, a Member of the Government of Jamaica Rule of Law Committee, and Deputy Chairman of the Jamaica Constabulary Force Operational Reform Oversight Committee. He is the Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica.

Professor Clayton’s research is based on policy analysis, futures studies, and scenario and strategic planning. His main research areas include national and citizen security, energy security, urban development, environmental management and development planning. He has over thirty years of international experience in policy development. He has worked in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. He has undertaken many policy studies on a wide range of development issues for a large number of governments and for a range of intergovernmental agencies, including UNEP, UNIDO, DfID, the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organization of American States.

He manages a large portfolio of research and development projects, with US$8 million in external research funding and support, and has supervised or examined nearly 50 PhD students.

National and citizen security

Professor Clayton served as the lead author of the intelligence-led policing strategy for Jamaica, and as the lead author of Jamaica’s 2014 National Security Policy (which proposed the ‘clear, hold and build’ strategy now being pursued by the Government of Jamaica). He was an advisor on the development of CARICOM’s Crime and Security Strategy ‘Securing the Region’. He led the 2015 operational review of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the 2015 assessment of citizen security in the Caribbean for the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the 2015 policy review of Jamaica’s Department of Correctional Services. He served as an advisor to US Southern Command Strategic Assessment for the Caribbean. He lectures at the US Naval War College on security risks in the Caribbean. He is one of the lead organizers and presenters at the annual Jamaica Defence Force training seminar for regional security forces. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Caribbean Journal of Strategic and Security Studies.

Energy security
Professor Clayton is one of the Principal Investigators of the Net Zero Energy Building project, which is a pioneering project to research, assess and construct an advanced prototype of a net zero/energy-plus energy building in Jamaica. The project's objective is to research and develop practical, working solutions that will transform building policies and practices, followed by the implementation of appropriate regulatory, educational and technical tools that will mainstream the lessons and transform the opportunities for promoting energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy sources. The lessons will be disseminated across the Caribbean region, and into other tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. If the project is successful, it will allow countries like Jamaica to simultaneously improve energy efficiency, increase levels of disposable income, reduce energy imports, minimize exposure to the risk of energy price volatility in future, and reduce their contribution to climate change.

Economic diversification
Professor Clayton identified the scope for Jamaica to supply the world market for nutraceuticals, and developed the market entry strategy. This led to the development of a burgeoning nutraceuticals industry in Jamaica. He also served as Chairman of the Government of Jamaica Cannabis Advisory Committee, and as lead author of the report identifying the scope to supply the medicinal and recreational markets.

Future studies
Professor Clayton was one of the Principal Investigators that developed the future-oriented model of development planning ‘Foresighting for Development’; which identifies possible future scenarios, and then uses those scenarios to map out a strategy for development that is coherent, resilient and adaptable. As part of this project, he was asked by the Government of South Africa to evaluate their national foresight exercise, then by the Commonwealth Secretariat to provide training workshops on the role of foresighting in policy for science and technology for Africa’s Ministers of Science and Technology under the auspices of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. In 2003 he completed the first technical manual on the approach, which was published by the Commonwealth Science Council and circulated to the 51 member states. This was followed in 2005 by a technical manual for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, which was circulated to every emerging economy. Related work included a horizon-scan exercise for the UK Government Department of International Development as part of the development of the Country Assistance Plan for Jamaica, a horizon-scan exercise for the UK Government Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit on future challenges for the Caribbean, training workshops in Thailand and the Czech Republic for UNIDO, training workshops for the Cabinet Office in Jamaica, training workshops for the Ministry of Planning and Development, the Ministry of Finance, the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science & Technology and the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute in Trinidad and Tobago, a workshop in New Delhi, India with the Commonwealth Secretariat and Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a horizon-scan exercise for the Office of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
and the Organization of American States which formed the basis of the Summit Declaration of the Fifth Summit of the Americas, and a horizon-scan exercise for the Office of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and the Commonwealth Secretariat that formed the basis of the Theme for the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

Policy analysis and strategic planning
Professor Clayton has written policy documents for the Organization of American States, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Bank and the United Nations Environment Agency, the governments of the UK, Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, amongst others.

  • In 2009 he served as the lead policy thematic advisor for both the Fifth Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
  • In 2008 he chaired a Government committee on planning and regulation in Jamaica, and his report was issued as a Government Green Paper in 2010.
  • In 2011 he served on the Squatter Management Committee of the Ministry of Housing, and helped to draft the proposed new policy for the management of informal settlements in Jamaica.
  • In 2011-2014 he represented the Caribbean on the International Council for Science (Latin America and the Caribbean Region) and the Inter-American Network of Academics of Science.

Honors
Professor Clayton has received a number of honors, including:

  • The World Congress of Consuls Award of Excellence
  • The Principal’s Research Award
  • The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence
  • In 2015 he was awarded Jamaica’s Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander