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TODAY

IN SUMMARY

I started on my green career path in 1986, working with John Elkington - we co-founded SustainAbility Ltd, a think tank consultancy that now has offices in London, Washington and Zurich, with another planned later in 2008 in India.  I have authored or co-authored nine books, including the number-one best-selling Green Consumer Guide, published 20 years ago and selling over 1 million copies worldwide.  My most recent book The New Green Consumer Guide, came out last year and has been widely acclaimed to be accessible, authorative and 'full of surprises'!  

My main work is as a sustainability consultant to industry.  Current or recent clients include Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, McDonalds, Shell, Numis Investment Bank and Procter & Gamble.  I also regularly make speeches and presentations, write articles - and a blog - have been a director of Jupiter Global Green Investment Trust, co-founded the Haller Foundation (being re-named 'Haller), a charity supporting eco-system projects, sit on the Food Ethics Council and am a Trustee of the Ecos Trust, which promotes green building practice.  

In 1989 I was elected to the UN `Global 500 Roll of Honour’ for ‘outstanding environmental achievements' and in 1999 was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours List.  I live in Somerset with my three sons Connor, Rollo and Monty, aged 13, 11 and 9.

AT A GLANCE

• Have been working in environmental sphere for over 20 years - since 1986
  

• Co-founded SustainAbility Ltd with John Elkington in 1987
  

• Wrote The Green Consumer Guide, which became a number one best-seller and sold over 1 million copies worldwide, in 1988
  

• Sustainability consultant to industry with blue chip clients including Shell, P&G, McDonalds, Morrisons and M&S.
  

• Was a non-exec director of Jupiter Global Green IT and have advised Numis Investment Bank.
  

• Have written 9 books to date, most recently  The New Green Consumer Guide - 2007
  

• Make speeches and presentations all over the world
  

• Regularly write for Telegraph online and other publications.
  

• Co-founded the Haller Foundation, which promotes sustainable agriculture in Africa.
  

• Awarded an MBE in1999 and was elected to the UN Global 500 Roll of Honour for outstanding environmental achievement.
  

My main clients are Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Reckitt Benckiser and  Procter & Gamble - See Consultancy.

Speeches I've made this year include ones for Merrill Lynch, Shell International, Reckitt Benckiser, Online Green Awards, the Design Council and one for AISE, the detergent industry association - in Croatia. 

BIOGAS AND F-GASES....

My main areas of work at the moment relate to packaging, food, supermarkets, energy issues and cleaning products.  But there are two issues where I have a particular interest.  

The first is anaerobic digestion (AD) and the use of biomethane for both transport and electricity generation.  In December 2006 I co-organised and chaired a seminar on biogas, pulling together the key players, so they could tell us more about what they were doing.  Since then I have visited waste and AD plants and kept up to date with developments in turning food waste and organic matter into biomethane.

The second is the sexy subject of cooling gases for both refrigeration and air conditioning.  Thanks to Greenpeace, pretty well all domestic refrigeration moved out of ozone destroying CFCs as coolants to hydrocarbon technology that wasn't either an ozone destroyer or a significant greenhouse gas.  But for supermarket and commercial refrigeration, as well as air conditioning, it's another matter.  The HFCs, which are widely used for these purposes have a huge global warming impact - about 1400 times more powerful than CO2.  Air conditioning in cars is horrendous because they use as much as 2-3kg of HFCs per car and they have a very high leakage rate - between one quarter and one third each year.

So I'm working with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) highlighting the issue, initially for supermarket refrigeration.  A survey has been sent out to see how far the different supermarkets have got in switching to alternative refrigeration gases.....  More information to come  (Sep08).  

2005-2007 RECENT TIMES

On Christmas Eve 2004 my family spent our first night in our new home - Coker Hill House.  I then spent several months eco-renovating the house, which included re-wiring, re-plumbing and painting throughout.  Although the renovation and decoration is largely complete there's always more to do - and I do have plans for some more eco-features, when time and money permit.  

During this time some of the projects and events I've been involved in were:

   New Green Consumer Guide:  I spent most of 2006 researching and writing this book, which was published in May 2007 by Simon & Schuster and serialised over 6 days in the Daily Telegraph. 

  Procter & Gamble:  Joined an Expert panel advising Procter & Gamble on sustainability issues relating to detergents and cleaning products. 

  McDonalds:  Gave presentations to the European Management team of McDonalds in Naples and McDonald's executives in Chicago. 

   Judging:  I've been on the judging panel for the National Business Awards (Corporate Social Responsibility Award); the Morgan Stanley Great Britons 2005 and 2007; the Green Awards (for green advertising and PR) and for the inaugural the Rushlight Awards in 2007 for renewable energy projects. 

   National Trust:  Sat on a panel alongside Environment Minister, David Miliband at a debate on climate change organised by the National Trust at the Royal Geographic Society.

  Haller Foundation:  Setting up and helping get this charity established - in 2006 we appointed Charles Middleton from Triodos bank as our new chair.

  Food Ethics Council:  Joined this organisation promoting ethical food practices and chaired their Business Forum meetings on Food miles and meat consumption. 

  Personal Carbon Allowances:  Worked with the Oxford Environmental Change Institute on personal carbon allowances.

  Green Funeral Exhibition:  I was the key note speaker at the Green Funeral Exhibition in April 2007.

   An Inconvenient Truth:  I've led a number of discussions following screenings of Al Gore's highly successful film An Inconvenient Truth, including a joint session with Rosie Boycott.

   Jupiter Global Green Investment Trust:  Non-Executive Director of Jupiter Global Green Investment Trust before it was rolled into Jupiter Green Investment Trust with a new board of directors (in 2006).

   Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development (now Ecos Trust): Became a Trustee of this charity promoting green building practices, in November 2005.

   Shell International:  Writing guidelines on Social Performance for their retail sites.

   Fruit fly maggots:  Working with the Bulmer Foundation, doing a feasibility study on the idea of using fruit fly larvae in chicken feed, instead of fish meal.