Laura Pereira is a Professor in Sustainability Transformations and Futures at the Global Change Institute at Wits University and a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. She is an interdisciplinary sustainability scientist, having been trained in ecology, law, zoology and human geography. She completed her DPhil in Geography at Oxford University in 2012, before working internationally at various institutions including the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, City University of London and Utrecht University.

Laura was an ICSU Young Scientist and Future Earth fellow in 2012 and has been an Earth Commissioner since 2024, co-leading the workstream on Transformation Pathways. As well as being invited to give various high-level talks, such as for the World Economic Forum, WWF Fuller and Lovejoy symposia, Laura has sat on the IPBES Task Force on scenarios and models since 2019 and has contributed to the intergovernmental assessment process in various roles since 2016. She is interested in the interface between indigenous and local knowledges and innovation, the role of futures techniques and visioning in enabling transformative change and developing innovative methods for knowledge co-production in Global South contexts. She is passionate about making stronger connections between the ocean community and work happening in terrestrial spaces, especially at the intersection between qualitative aspirational futuring and quantitative models, exemplified in her liaison role with the Earth Commission’s Ocean workstream. Laura is the co-PI on the Blue Africa synthesis project that aims to feed outputs on blue carbon, marine biodiversity and livelihoods data from the African continent directly to the African Group of Negotiators for the UNFCC and CBD, and has led various ocean visioning processes, including on the high seas, coral reefs and for ocean civil society leaders in a lead-up to UNOC-3.