Jonathon Porritt Keynote Speaker

Expert on climate change and sustainable investment
Co-Founder, Forum for the Future
Co-Director, The Prince of Wales’s Business and Sustainability Programme

Jonathon Porritt's Biography

Jonathon Porritt, Co-Founder of Forum for the Future, is an eminent writer, broadcaster and commentator on sustainable development. Established in 1996, Forum for the Future is now the UK’s leading sustainable development charity, with 70 staff and over 100 partner organisations including some of the world’s leading companies.

In addition, he is Co-Director of The Prince of Wales’s Business and Sustainability Programme, which runs Seminars for senior executives around the world. He is a Non-Executive Director of Wessex Water, and a former Non-Executive Director of Willmott Dixon Holdings (2010–2022). He was a Trustee of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy from 2004 to 2020, and was involved in the work of many NGOs and charities as Patron, Chair or Special Adviser during this period.

He was formerly Director of Friends of the Earth (1984-90); Co-Chair of the Green Party (1980-83) of which he is still a member; Chairman of UNED-UK (1993-96); Chairman of Sustainability South West, the South West Round Table for Sustainable Development (1999-2001); a Trustee of WWF UK (1991-2005), and a member of the Board of the South West Regional Development Agency (1999-2008).

He stood down as Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission in July 2009 after nine years providing high-level advice to Government Ministers.

He is one of the UK’s most established voices on sustainable development, combining decades of public leadership and commentary with a track record that spans Friends of the Earth, WWF UK and high-level government advisory roles.
He brings rare credibility at the intersection of business and sustainability as Co-Founder of Forum for the Future, the UK’s leading sustainable development charity with over 100 partner organisations including some of the world’s leading companies.
He translates sustainability strategy into practical leadership action through his work as Co-Director of The Prince of Wales’s Business and Sustainability Programme, guiding senior executives through the implications of system-level change.
He offers board-level insight shaped by years advising UK ministers as Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, helping organisations anticipate policy shifts and strengthen long-term resilience.
He equips leaders to align commercial priorities with societal expectations, drawing on experience across NGOs, trusteeships and non-executive roles to help audiences move from ambition to credible delivery.