Who are we?
CCAG is an independent group of experts which reflects a wide range of academic disciplines and indigenous knowledge, comprising 16 experts from 10 nations. It includes leading authorities in climate science, carbon emissions, energy, environment, and natural resources. Some of the members also participate in governmental advisory groups. Its function is complementary, not an alternative, to these other roles. CCAG looks at in-depth policy and financial issues, including ones not currently on governmental agendas. All scientists have agreed to give up their time at no cost.
Read more about each of our members below.
An American policy-maker and academic, Alice Hill currently serves as the David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. Hill was previously special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council staff where she led the development of national policy to build resilience to catastrophic risks, including climate change and biological threats. Her coauthored book, Building a Resilient Tomorrow, was published in 2019. In 2020, Yale University and the Op-Ed Project awarded her the Public Voices Fellowship on the Climate Crisis. Hill’s new book, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, was published in September 2021.
Alice Hill
Qi Ye is Professor of Public Policy and Director of Institute of Public Policy at Hong Kong University Science and Technology, and Cheung Kong Professor at Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Management. He is a leading expert on China's environmental policy, with research focusing on China's policies on climate change, environment, energy, natural resources and urbanisation.
Professor Qi Ye
Sir David King is the founder and chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group and founder of the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge. Previously he held the position off permanent Special Representative for Climate Change for the UK from September 2013 until March 2017. He was the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor from 2000 to 2007, during which time he raised awareness of the need for governments to act on climate change and was instrumental in creating the Energy Technologies Institute.
Sir David King
Dr Robert W. Corell is a Principal and Director at the US' Global Environment Technology Foundation and the Lead at its Centre for Energy and Climate Solutions. He is also a Director and Co-Founder of the Rising Seas Institute, and a Board of Trustees Member for the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. Dr. Corell is particularly interested in global and regional climate change and the link between science and public policy.
Dr. Robert W. Corell
Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Professor at the Institute of Earth and Environmental Science at Potsdam University, and Professor in Water Systems and Global Sustainability at Stockholm University. He received the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant, and provides strategic scientific guidance as a member of the European Commission's Expert Group 'Mission Board for Adaptation to Climate Change, including Societal Transformation' and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Professor
Johan Rockström
Professor Nerilie Abram is a Paleoclimate Scientist at the Australian National University, with research expertise covering climate change impacts, from the tropical oceans to Antarctica. She is Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science and was a coordinating lead author for the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, published in 2019.
Professor Nerilie Abram
Dr. Klaus Lackner is the director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions and professor at the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University. Lackner's research interests include closing the carbon cycle by capturing carbon dioxide from the air, carbon sequestration, carbon foot-printing, innovative energy, infrastructure systems and their scaling properties, and energy and environmental policy.
Dr Klaus Lackner
Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh is an environmental psychologist, specialising in perceptions and behaviours in relation to climate change, energy and transport, based in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. She is Director of the UK Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations and regularly advises government and other organisations on low-carbon behaviour change and climate change communication.
Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh
Dr Arunabha Ghosh is the Founder and CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water. Arunabha advises governments, industry, civil society and international organisations around the world. He was invited by France to advise on the COP21 climate negotiations and was actively involved in conceptualising and designing the International Solar Alliance. He is also a founding board member of the Clean Energy Access Network and was nominated to the UN’s Committee for Development Policy in 2018.
Dr Arunabha Ghosh
Mark Maslin is a Professor of Earth System Science at UCL. Maslin is a leading scientist with particular expertise in understanding the Anthropocene and how it relates to the major challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. He is Director at Rezatec, and author of Human Planet, Cradle of Humanity and How To Save Our Planet.
Professor Mark Maslin
Christophe is the Head of the Energy Supply Unit at the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), where he leads the energy supply and climate analysis within the World Energy Outlook (WEO) series. As part of this work, Christophe was the lead author for the recent IEA special reports on Net Zero by 2050: A roadmap for the global energy sector; Sustainable Recoveries; and The Oil and Gas Industry in Energy Transitions.
Dr Christophe McGlade
Lavanya Rajamani is a Professor of International Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. Lavanya specialises in the field of international environmental and climate change law. She has authored several books and articles in this field, including the ASIL prize-winning co-authored book, International Climate Change Law (OUP, 2017). She was part of the UNFCCC core drafting and advisory team for the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Professor Lavanya Rajamani
Dr Fatima Denton
Dr Denton is the Director of the United Nations University – Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA). Prior to joining UNU-INRA, she worked with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as Director of the Special Initiatives Division and Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC). Her research has centred around climate change adaptation with a focus on resilience systems in sectors such as agriculture, water and energy, particularly in the African region.
Gustavo Alves Luedemann
A researcher at the public policy hub of the Rede Clima, a government-funded net of climate science researchers in Brazil, Gustavo works for the Institute of Applied Economic Research. His concerns include climate action financing, climate-biodiversity linkages, climate justice and emissions pricing. Recently appointed by the Brazilian Ministry of Finance to coordinate the climate and environmental policies funding intelligence, Gustavo has experience in governmental executive duties, having been designated the Brazilian National Authority’s focal point for the Clean Development Mechanism at the Ministry of Science and Technology, from 2013 to 2014, where he oversaw the administration of projects like the GEF funded ‘Mitigation Options of GHG Emissions in Key Sectors in Brazil’ and the Third National Communication to the UNFCCC.
Professor Mercedes Bustamante
Professor Bustamante is well-known for her contributions to the ecological knowledge of threatened tropical ecosystems and their interactions with human-induced changes. She has participated in high-level national and international research groups and panels, and is an elected member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).
Professor Mariana Mazzucato
Mariana Mazzucato (PhD) is Professor at University College London (UCL), where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP). She advises policymakers around the world on innovation-led inclusive and sustainable growth and her highly acclaimed books include Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism. Previous roles have included Chair of the World Health Organization's Council on the Economics of Health for All, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, and Co-Chair on the Council on Urban Initiatives.
Dr Guido Schmidt-Traub
Dr Guido Schmidt-Traub is a highly respected economist and managing partner at system change company Systemiq, bringing a rich background spanning both academia and policy. He served as founding Executive Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and a board member of WaterAid, Global Citizen Europe, and Friends Europe of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
CCAG Presenter:
Ade Adepitan, MBE
Ade Adepitan is a TV presenter, Paralympic medallist, and journalist. Ade’s work has taken him across the globe; going undercover with C4’s Dispatches, reporting foreign affairs for Unreported World and more recently fronting the ground-breaking BBC Two Series, Climate Change: Ade on the Frontline. Filmed during the pandemic, Ade meets the people and places around the globe who have been directly affected by climate change. An exceptional public speaker and live host, Ade supports a plethora of charities and continues to deliver motivational speeches to schools, charities and businesses around the world.
Former members
Professor Saleemul Huq (1952-2023) was Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and Professor at the Independent University Bangladesh (IUB). He was a world-leading expert in adaptation to climate change in the most vulnerable developing countries.
Professor Laura Diaz Anadon holds the chaired Professorship of Climate Change Policy at the University of Cambridge and is also Director of the Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG) and Fellow of St. John's College, where she is the Director of Studies for Land Economy.
Dr Tero Mustonen works for the nonprofit Snowchange Cooperative in Finland. He specialises in Arctic biodiversity and impacts to Indigenous and local communities and nomadic societies of the Arctic. He also co-leads a large-scale restoration action called the Landscape Rewilding Programme.