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Kathryn Brown appointed director for climate action at The Wildlife Trusts

Announcement comes as 2021 declared sixth hottest year on record

The Wildlife Trusts have announced Kathryn Brown as the charity’s first director of climate action.  The Trusts have created this permanent climate role in response to the climate and nature crisis – the two emergencies are inextricably linked, and one cannot be solved without addressing the other.

Just a few days ago, NASA reported that 2021 was the sixth hottest year on record, and that the last eight years have been the hottest ever recorded. Restoring nature is key to tackling climate change because healthy habitats store carbon – whilst drained peatlands, for example, actively emit it. Nature can also play an important role in helping us adapt to changing temperatures and extreme weather.

Kathryn, formerly of the UK Government’s independent climate advisor, The Climate Change Committee (CCC), was seconded to The Wildlife Trusts last summer as an interim director ahead of COP26.

She was awarded an OBE for her services to climate change research in January’s New Year’s Honours list, and after a rigorous interview process has been selected as the best candidate to fill the permanent directorial role.

Craig Bennett, CEO of The Wildlife Trusts, says:

“As The Wildlife Trusts work to tackle the twin nature and climate emergencies Kathryn Brown’s experience will be invaluable – we're absolutely delighted that she’s agreed to join our team.

“Too many climate records are breaking as the world warms, and though the natural world should be our ally in the fight against climate change, too many of our natural habitats are now so degraded they are unable to store carbon. We need to get serious about tackling these environmental crises by putting nature in recovery across 30% of land and sea by 2030.”

The Wildlife Trusts are at the forefront of repairing thousands of hectares of peatlands, saltmarsh and other carbon-storing habitats, as well as giving new areas of land a chance to recover for nature – providing vital natural solutions to climate change. The 46 Wildlife Trusts are collectively the sixth largest land holder in the UK; they care for reserves covering over 100,000 hectares and provide land advice across an additional 200,000 hectares.

Kathryn Brown, The Wildlife Trusts Director of Climate Action, smiles at the camera

Kathryn Brown, director for climate change action at The Wildlife Trusts, says:

“I’m thrilled to take up the permanent role of climate change director at The Wildlife Trusts, at a time when our work is becoming increasingly critical. We have the skills and experience across the Trusts to deploy nature-based solutions on a massive scale to lock-up more carbon, improve climate resilience and support nature’s recovery.

“The Trusts are working tirelessly to tackle the climate and nature crisis, working on crucial issues from the impacts of extreme weather on nature reserves to ensuring we are measuring and acting on our own carbon emissions as robustly as possible. We have an ambitious strategy ahead of us and I’m honoured to be joining an amazing team to deliver this vital work.”

In her new role Kathryn is supporting 46 individual Wildlife Trusts to implement emissions reduction strategies and adaptation plans, as well as representing the charities in calling for much stronger ambition, policy and action to address the climate and nature crises.

Working within climate change policy and evidence for 20 years, Kathryn is highly regarded for her leadership of the Independent Assessment of Climate Risk to inform the government’s third Climate Change Risk Assessment. This was a major undertaking, with Kathryn directing over 500 external experts over four years to produce thousands of pages of analysis. It will be a foundation stone of all that the UK Government and devolved administrations will do to adapt to climate change in the coming years. 

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