Scott Vaughan

Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Scott Vaughan was appointed Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in May 2008.

As Commissioner, Mr. Vaughan is responsible for carrying out environmental and sustainable development audits, including audits of Environment Canada; monitoring sustainable development strategies; and overseeing the environmental petitions process.

Before joining the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Vaughan worked for the Organization of American States (OAS), where he was the Director of the Department of Sustainable Development since 2003. The OAS is an intergovernmental organization comprised of 34 member states, including Canada, which works on strengthening democracy and implementing decisions adopted by heads of state and government through the Summit of the Americas.

Before his time with the OAS, Mr. Vaughan was a Visiting Scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C, in 2002–03. From 1998 to 2002, he was Head of the Economics, Trade and Environment Program at the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation in Montréal, and from 1995 to 1998, he was a Counselor working on environmental issues at the World Trade Organization. He held a variety of positions with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) from 1989 to 1995, and founded UNEP’s partnership with the financial services sector. He launched UNEP’s work in environment and international trade, was Deputy Chief of the environmental economics division in Nairobi, and worked on the preparations for the 1992 Earth Summit.

Mr. Vaughan holds a master’s degree in science and economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is also a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Dalhousie University, and Mount Allison University. He has published in the field of environment and trade, payment for ecosystem services, and, most recently, freshwater management and adaptation to climate change.