Dr. K. N. Ninan is Chairperson, Centre for Economics, Environment and Society, Bengaluru. He was Co-Chair, Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), United Nations, Bonn, Germany during 2014-16.

Prior to this he was Professor of Ecological Economics and Head of the Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources (CEENR) at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru, India. He has also been a Visiting Professor/Fellow at several international universities and institutions such as University of Gothenburg, Sweden; University of Cambridge; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Tokyo; University of Versailles, Paris; Maison des Sciences de L’Homme, Paris; Institute of Development Studies, Sussex; Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo and University of Tokushima, Japan. He was also a contributing author to The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

His research areas relate to environmental economics in general and more specifically economics and valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, sustainable use and management of natural resources especially forests and watersheds, sustainable agriculture, and climate-related issues. Books written by him include: Environmental Assessments: Scenarios, Modelling and Policy (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton,USA,2020); Building a Climate Resilient Economy and Society-Challenges and Opportunities (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, USA, 2017); Valuing Ecosystem Services-Methodological Issues and Case Studies (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, USA, 2014); Conserving and Valuing Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity-Economic, Institutional and Social Challenges (Earthscan, London & Washington, 2009, 2011); and The Economics of Biodiversity Conservation-Valuation in Tropical Forest Ecosystems (Earthscan, London and Washington 2007, 2008; Routledge, London, 2016). He has published articles in top-rated journals such as Ecological Economics, Ecosystem Services, Ambio, Nature Ecology and Evolution. He was President of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE) during 2018-20. In 2020 he was honored and conferred the title of INSEE Fellow by the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE). He is a Lead Author for Chapter 7 (Agriculture, Forests and Other Land Uses), Working Group III, Sixth Assessment Report, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Geneva, Switzerland.