Speakers

John Dora has over forty years’ experience in infrastructure, from operations to policy level, mainly covering railway asset management and flood risk. Alongside this expertise, he is an acknowledged international expert in climate adaptation and resilience. As a former Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of Birmingham and a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, John works to embed climate knowledge and sustainability in engineering curricula. Frequently he gives talks on, and teaches asset management and infrastructure adaptation, towards reducing the risks posed by climate change to long-life infrastructure and society. 
 
John is the global strategic lead for adaptation for the International Standards Organisations (ISO) and he won an award for the drafting of the ISO 14090 standard on climate adaptation – the first international standard dedicated to adaptation to climate change. He was the British rail industry’s lead on adaptation research from 2009 until 2016, as technical expert for RSSB, the Rail Safety Standards’ Board. Currently he is engaged on adaptation standards' work with ISO, BSI and CEN Cenelec, the pan-European standards' body.

His climate change adaptation clients have included the World Bank, the United Nations, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Office of Rail and Road, EdF and Network Rail.
 
John has contributed on climate adaptation at COPs since COP 21 in Paris, and has been chair of the UK’s Infrastructure Operators’ Adaptation Forum since its inception in 2012.