Katherine Richardson is a professor in biological oceanography, leader of the Sustainability Science Centre, and Leader of the Queen Margrethe’s and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir's Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Ocean, Climate, and Society at the University of Copenhagen. Katherine is also a core developer of the Planetary Boundaries framework that attempts to identify a safe operating space for humanity in its impact on global resources. She was Chairman of the Danish Commission on Climate Change Policy that reported in 2010 and presented a roadmap for how Denmark can become independent of fossil fuels by 2050. She is at present a member of the Government-appointed Danish Climate Council and was a member of the 15-person Independent Group of Scientists appointed by Ban Ki-moon to draft the 2019 UN Global Sustainable Development Report.