Joanna Yarrow Keynote Speaker

Joanna Yarrow is an internationally acclaimed expert in sustainable living & a highly respected voice in sustainable business.

She is Chief Impact Officer at sustainable placemaking company Human Nature, a property company that designs, builds & runs places that make sustainable living easy and attractive (incl the award-winning Phoenix project).  She sits on P&G’s global sustainability advisory board, & is a trustee of the Human Nature Places Foundation. Previously she was Chief Sustainability Officer for the M&C Saatchi Group (the world’s largest independent creative solutions company) where she established the Group’s global people & planet strategy, & was Founding Partner of M&C Saatchi LIFE – a strategic creative consultancy making sustainable living mainstream.

From 2013 to 2020, she worked for IKEA. During this time she was Global Head of Sustainable & Healthy Living, shaping IKEA’s work to make sustainable & healthy living affordable, attractive & accessible for as many people as possible worldwide, & before that she was Head of Sustainability for IKEA UK & Ireland, where she led the integration of all aspects of sustainability into core business & innovation. Previously she was a founder of the sustainability company Beyond Green, providing strategic advice to clients ranging from city leaders to the London 2012 Olympics

A recognised “face” of sustainability, Joanna has a prolific media presence. She presented BBC3’s Outrageous Wasters & has appeared on lifestyles & current affairs programmes including GMTV & ITV Tonight. She also presented ITV’s 60 Minute Makeover, bringing a glamorous green touch to interior design. She wrote “1,001 Ways You Can Save the Planet”, “How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint” & “Eco-logical!” – books designed to make green living easy & accessible for a broad range of readers.

With many years’ experience in applying sustainability principles to projects ranging from household makeovers to multinational business strategies, Joanna is equally comfortable in a boardroom, campaign HQ or community garden. She is an accomplished keynote speaker, host and moderator and brings confidence, humour, vision & clarity to the challenges of net zero, ESG & healthy, sustainable living.

She studied Human Sciences (MA) at Oxford University and has a Masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development from Forum for the Future. She received an honorary doctorate from Staffordshire University in recognition of her work on sustainability and climate change, and is a contributing lecturer for the Cambridge University Judge Business School Marketing Leadership programme.