Three new expert members have been appointed to the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) Adaptation Committee by the UK Government and Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Dr Ben Caldecott, Professor Nathalie Seddon and Dr Swenja Surminski will take up their roles on 1 May 2022 for a three-year term. They will lead the Adaptation Committee’s work on finance, the natural environment and business respectively, continuing the work of outgoing Committee Members Ece Ozdemiroglu, Rosalyn Schofield, Professor Kate Jones and the late Professor Dame Georgina Mace. There is a three-month crossover period between new and departing members to ensure continuity.
Chair of the Adaptation Committee, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, said:
“I am delighted to welcome Dr Caldecott, Prof. Seddon and Dr Surminski to the Adaptation Committee and congratulate them on their appointments. The growing recognition of the importance of adapting to climate change, and of the CCC’s work, was reflected in an impressive field of candidates for these roles. Ben, Nathalie and Swenja will help us build on the analysis underpinning the third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, especially in the key areas of financing adaptation, the natural environment and business risk and preparedness. Their expertise will be invaluable as the UK seeks to shift the dial on improving its resilience to climate change.
“I would also like to warmly thank Ece Ozdemiroglu, Rosalyn Schofield, Prof. Kate Jones and the late Prof. Dame Georgina Mace. Their insight and dedication have been key to the Adaptation Committee’s success in offering robust, evidence-based advice to Government over many years and I’m very grateful for their contribution. I am also delighted they will be staying on until July to ensure a smooth transition.”
Notes to Editors
- Ben Caldecott is the founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group and the inaugural Lombard Odier Associate Professor of Sustainable Finance at the University of Oxford. Ben is also the founding Director and Principal Investigator of the UK Centre for Greening Finance & Investment (CGFI), established by UK Research and Innovation in 2021 as the national centre to accelerate the adoption and use of climate and environmental data and analytics by financial institutions internationally.
- Nathalie Seddon is Professor of Biodiversity and Founding Director of the Nature-based Solutions Initiative in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford. Nathalie trained as an ecologist at Cambridge University and has over 25 years of research experience in a range of ecosystems across the globe. As a University Research Fellow of the Royal Society, she developed broad research interests in the origins and maintenance of biodiversity and its relationship with global change. She holds a host of other positions, including Director of the Agile Initiative at the Oxford Martin School, co-Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, and Founding non-executive Director of the Oxford University Social Venture, Nature-based insetting.
- Swenja Surminski has been Head of Adaptation Research at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics (LSE), overseeing research projects on climate risk management, finance and resilience strategies since 2017. She is also Chair of the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative and a member of the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance. Swenja has recently accepted a new role as Managing Director Climate and Sustainability at Marsh McLennan. Her work focuses on capacity building and knowledge transfer between science, policy and industry, building on her work in industry and as advisor to governments, private sector and civil society, including as Visiting Academic at the Bank of England.
- Ece Ozdemiroglu and Rosalyn Schofield will complete their terms on the Adaptation Committee in July 2022. They have been in post since 2016. Prof. Kate Jones joined the Committee as an expert adviser in February 2021 following the sad passing of Professor Dame Georgina Mace. There will be a three-month crossover period between new and departing members to ensure continuity.
- Appointments have been made in line with the guidance set out in the Ministerial Governance Code for Public Appointments.
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