20+ years of climate action

“Architect of the world’s first Climate Change Act of Parliament”

In the late ‘90s while working on new laws to protect nature I was first warned about the impending risk of climate change. I began working on it soon after and in 2001 joined Friends of the Earth as their UK climate campaigner. While there I conceived of the ‘Big Ask’ campaign for new climate laws in the UK and in 2006/7 worked on drafting the Climate Change Act itself, as it took shape in the the civil service. This led to my being appointed as a member of the House of Lords in 2010. I was selected as a shadow Energy Minister and led for the opposition on two energy bills and many other regulations. I have since become a crossbench (non party affiliated) peer and am currently on a two-year leave of absence, living in Northern California, with my family. I have fulfilled a number of roles in parallel with attending Parliament and continue to work on a range of climate projects.

Public Speaking and Writing

I enjoy public speaking and have been engaged by a wide range of clients over the years including recently BlueYard Investing, Vitruvian, PodPoint, Founders Pledge and the FT. I am a regular contributor to Prospect Magazine

Strategy development: philanthropy

Having spent a career in and around the not-for-profit sector, in 2020 I took on a new role advising a major new climate foundation which quickly went from £0 - £100m pa in granting. I currently provide strategic advice to the Levine Family Foundation which focuses on protecting and restoring our oceans and work for Potential Energy on their internationalisation plan.

Strategy development: business

I’ve worked on many projects in different sectors of the economy, providing advice on how to deliver change within our changing climate. I was a sustainability adviser to Scottish and Southern Energy and recent projects have focused on electric vehicles, retrofitting coal (with clean, high temperature heat sources) carbon market integrity for UK startup Sylvera and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions with the World Meteorological Organisation.

Leadership and Board membership

I am a trustee and Deputy Chair of WWF-UK’s board and a non-executive board member of Jupiter Green Investment Trust. I have founded and am on the board of a number of initiatives, including Ember (formerly Sandbag) and New Automotive and the not-for-profit incubator, the Climate Subak.