Crispin Tickell

Sir Crispin Tickell GCMGKCVOFZS
Tickell in 2011
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations
In office 1987–1990
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	John Adam Thomson
Succeeded by	David Hannay
Her Majesty's Ambassador to Mexico
In office 1981–1983
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Norman Ernest Cox
Succeeded by	Sir Kenneth James
Personal details
Born	Crispin Charles Cervantes Tickell (1930-08-25)25 August 1930 London, England
Died	25 January 2022(2022-01-25)(aged 91)
Spouses	Chloe Gunn ​ ​ (m.1954;div.1976)​ Penelope Thorne ​ (m.1977)​
Children	3, includingOliver Tickell
Education	Westminster School
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Fellow of the Zoological Society of London

Sir Crispin Charles Cervantes TickellGCMGKCVOFZS(25 August 1930 – 25 January 2022) was a British diplomat, environmentalist, and academic.

Background

See also:Huxley family

Tickell was born in London,the son of writerJerrard Tickelland Renée (née Haynes), a great-granddaughter ofThomas Henry Huxley.He was educated atWestminster Schoolwhere he was a King's Scholar, andChrist Church, Oxford,graduating in 1952 with first class honours in Modern History.He did his national service in theColdstream Guardsas a 2nd Lieutenant from 1952 to 1954.

Diplomatic career

Tickell joined the British diplomatic service in 1954, serving at theForeign Office Main Buildingin London until 1955. He was responsible for looking after theBritish Antarctic Territory;the experience gained may have laid the foundations for long-term interests in the environment.He then had a posting at the British Embassy inThe Hague(1955–58);Mexico City(1958–61); London (1961–64); Paris (1964–70); and Private Secretary to various Chancellors of theDuchy of Lancaster(1970–72) during negotiations for the UK entry into theEuropean Community.He was laterChef de Cabinetto the President of theEuropean Commission(1977–1980),British Ambassador to Mexico(1981–1983), Permanent Secretary of theOverseas Development Administration(nowDepartment for International Development) (1984–1987), and British Ambassador to the United Nations and Permanent Representative on theUN Security Council(1987–1990).

He was appointedMVOin 1958 and later knighted as aKCVOin 1983 on theRoyal Yacht Britannia,to mark the conclusion ofQueen Elizabeth'sOfficial Visit to Mexico. He was appointedGCMGfor his work at the UN in 1988.

Spying at U.N. headquarters debate

WhenClare Short,former international development secretary inBlair's Cabinet, said that British intelligence bugged the office ofKofi Annan,the UN Secretary-General, Tickell refused to comment on the accuracy of Short's claim, saying he had a continuing duty of loyalty to governments past and present and told theBBC,"What I would say is I would not be surprised if in New York there is a great deal of listening all over the place from one country to another, and I don't know whether it really makes very much difference. My conscience is quite clear about these matters and I would not think it necessarily a bad thing at all if it is in the national interest." Tickell added, "Our friends and allies may indeed be doing something like that themselves."

Tickell also criticized Short for resigning from her position of Secretary for International Development in protest of Tony Blair's entry into theIraq Warin May 2003 and reprimanded her: "your prime loyalty is to your employer and, indeed, to the interests of the country."

Academic career

Tickell was President of theRoyal Geographical Societyfrom 1990 to 1993 and Warden ofGreen College, Oxford,between 1990 and 1997, where he appointedGeorge MonbiotandNorman Myersas Visiting Fellows. Green College merged withTempleton Collegein 2008 to becomeGreen Templeton College,located at what was previously Green College.

He was President of theMarine Biological Associationfrom 1990 to 2001. From 1996 until August 2006 he was chancellor of theUniversity of Kentwhen SirRobert Worcestertook over the position. He was director of the Policy Foresight Programmeof the James Martin 21st Century Schoolat theUniversity of Oxford(formerly the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding) and Chairman Emeritus of the Climate Institute, in Washington D.C. He has many interests, includingclimate change,population issues,conservation of biodiversity,and the earlyhistory of the Earth.

Margaret Thatchercredited Tickell with persuading her to make a speech on global climate change to the Royal Society in September 1988 (though the speech was written by Thatcher andGeorge Guise).

He chairedJohn Major's Government Panel on Sustainable Development (1994–2000), and was a member of two government task forces under theLabour Party:one onurban regeneration,chaired by SirRichard Rogers,later Lord Rogers (1998–99), and one onpotentially hazardous near-Earth objects(2000).

He was an Honorary Fellow ofSt Edmund's College, Cambridge.

Public impact

A man of strong environmental convictions, he was described as having been influential in Britain, although his environmental message did not always travel as easily abroad, particularly to the United States. His 1977 bookClimatic Change and World Affairsargued that mandatory international pollution control would eventually be necessary. Despite his non-scientific background, he was internationally respected as having had a strong grasp of science policy issues. He was the recipient, between 1990 and 2006, of 23 honorary doctorates.

He was the president of the UK charityTree Aid,which enables communities in Africa'sdrylandsto fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. He was also a patron ofpopulationconcern charityPopulation Matters,(formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust),and told BBC Radio 4'sTodayprogramme that the ideal population for Britain could be around 20 million.As a member of Lord Rogers' Urban Task Force, Tickell counselled against spreading cities saying that we need denser living, that young adults should not expect to leave home straight away, and that older relatives could live in "granny flats".

Personal life and death

Sir Crispin lived in a converted barn in theCotswolds.He married Chloe Gunn in 1954 but the marriage was dissolved in 1976.He had two sons and one daughter from this marriage. The following year, he married Penelope Thorne.His main recreations included climatology, paleohistory,pre-Columbian art,and mountains.His son isOliver Tickell,former editor ofThe Ecologist.

Tickell died frompneumoniaon 25 January 2022, at the age of 91.

Former appointments

• Non-executive Director,IBM UK(1990–1995)
• Trustee,Natural History Museum(1992–2001)
• Trustee,Baring Foundation(1992–2002)

Publications

• Climate Change and World Affairs,with a preface bySolly Zuckerman(1977, second edition 1986, Harvard International Affairs Committee).second edition available online in full
• Mary Anning of Lyme Regis,with a preface byJohn Fowles(1996, 1998 and 2003).

Styles and honours

• Mr Crispin Tickell (1930–1958)
• Mr Crispin Tickell MVO (1958–1983)
• Sir Crispin Tickell KCVO (1983–1988)
• Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO (from 1988)

External links

• Archive of his works
• Talk presentated at the RIBA: Sir Crispin Tickell, The Future of Cities: Hazards of Environmental Change(Video)
• Interview with Sir Crispin Tickell&transcriptArchived31 July 2020 at theWayback Machine,British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1999