Biography

Rebecca Willis is an independent researcher and Vice-Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission. Her work focuses on environmental politics and policymaking at both a national and regional level. She has researched and written on issues such as climate change, energy policy, public attitudes to the environment, government spending and taxation, and the environmental and social impact of new technologies.

As Vice-Chair for Whitehall, Rebecca represents the Sustainable Development Commission in central government, working with government ministers, advisers and officials to ensure that government policy reflects sustainability goals. Her freelance portfolio involves work with a range of organisations including Defra, Greenpeace, The Lake District National Park Authority and The University of Leeds. Current and recent projects include:

• Low-Carbon Lake District: This project aims to help all those with a stake in the Lake District National Park to take action on climate change. It reviews how climate change will affect the Lakes, looks at what action is being taken to reduce greenhouse gases, and makes recommendations for future action.

• The Disrupters: Lessons for low-carbon innovation from the new wave of environmental pioneers, a profile of eight innovators - The Disrupters - who are pioneering solutions to climate change.

• A Green Living Initiative, co-authored with Professor Paul Ekins and published by the Policy Studies Institute, analysing the role of tax incentives in promoting sustainable households.

• Advice to the Cumbria Strategic Partnership on measures to reduce carbon emissions across Cumbria.

• Taking part in the judging panel for NESTA's Big Green Challenge, a community carbon reduction initiative with a £1 million prize fund.

Rebecca is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars, and has contributed to a range of media including BBC Radio Four's Today Programme, The Guardian, New Statesman and specialist environmental press. She is an Associate of the think-tank Demos, and of environmental group Green Alliance. From 2001-4 she was Green Alliance’s Director. Previously, Rebecca spent two years as a policy adviser at the European Parliament in Brussels, specialising in international environmental issues.

Rebecca has a degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and a masters degree in Environment, Development and Policy from the University of Sussex. She lives in Cumbria with her husband and two young sons, and divides her time between London and the Lake District.

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