After nearly 50 years of non-stop activism and advocating both for environmental sustainability and for social justice, the challenge has never been more pressing.
Hope often seems very fragile against such a disaster-strewn backdrop. It still permeates my life (as an incorrigible advocate of a solutions agenda that gets more and more substantive by the day), but I’m increasingly critical of “solutionists” and “stubborn optimists” who refuse to reflect the reality of both climate science and the political context we’re working in.
But I’m grateful I still have such a diverse portfolio – not least to give full rein to my campaigning instincts (working against the insanity of nuclear power and nuclear weapons, for instance, or in support of progressive family planning, electoral reform and a host of other critical causes). I remain a Member of the Green Party and increasingly involved in supporting organisations like Just Stop Oil and Defend our Juries.
I know I’ve said this before, but I can’t help but think we’re nearing an inflection point – ecologically, politically and economically. So there are some very turbulent times ahead!
Affiliations
The Conservation Volunteers – President
Blue Marine Foundation – Ambassador
The Findhorn Foundation – Fellow
The National Forest – Ambassador
WWF-UK – Fellow
The Resilience Project – Senior Adviser.
Population Matters – President
Reboot the Future – Ambassador
Patron
Alister Hardy Society
Centre for Alternative Technology
Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management
Cheltenham Science Festival
Green Christian
Compassion in World Farming
Earth Charter
Electoral Reform Society
Environmental Law Foundation
Friends of Mortimer Forest
Gloucestershire Resource Centre
Human Scale Education
Learning Through Landscapes
Living Streets
Marine Conservation Society
Nuclear Information Service
Peace Child International
Prisoners of Conscience
Stop Hinkley C
Sustrans
Tree Aid
Professional & Academic
Magdalen College, Oxford – Fellow
Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability – Honorary Fellow
Institute of Environmental Sciences – Honorary Fellow
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Managers – Honorary Fellow
Schumacher Institute – Distinguished Fellow
Royal Instutute of British Architects – Honorary Member
Royal Town Planning Institute – Honorary Fellow
Society for the Environment – Honorary Fellow
Awards
Ethical Corporation Lifetime Achievement Award (2017)
Edie Sustainability – Lifetime Achievement Award (2020)
UK Green Business Lifetime Achievement Award (2023)
Schumacher Society Lifetime Achievement Award
Co-Founder Roles
The Other Economic Summit/New Economics Foundation (1984)
Forum for the Future (1994)
Prince of Wales Business and Sustainability Programme (1994)
The Real World (1995)
The Aotearoa Circle (2018)
Honorary Degrees
Dundee
Essex
Exeter
Gloucestershire
Greenwich
Heriot-Watt
Keele
Liverpool John Moores
Loughborough
Newcastle
Northumbria
Nottingham
Plymouth
Queen’s University Belfast
Staffordshire
Sussex
University of Central England
University of the West of England
Warwick
Westminster
Winchester
