Tony Juniper

Tony Juniper is a renowned keynote speaker, campaigner, writer, and commentator, and one of the UK’s best known environmentalists.

For more than 35 years Tony, has spent his time seeking change toward a more sustainable society at local, national and international levels. Whether he's providing ecology and conservation experiences for primary school children, making the case for new recycling laws, or orchestrating international campaigns for action on rainforests and climate change, as well as publishing influential books to working as an ecological scientist, he has worked in a wide diversity of roles.

Today he is Chair of the official nature conservation agency Natural England. Before taking up this role in April 2019 he was the Executive Director for Advocacy and Campaigns at WWF-UK, a Fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (a role that he retains) and President of the Wildlife Trusts. Until January 2018 he was an independent sustainability and environment advisor, including as Special Advisor with The Prince of Wales's International Sustainability Unit.

In 1990 Juniper joined Friends of the Earth. He has since maintained a strong public presence both for Friends of the Earth and personally, in the UK and abroad. In 2005 Country Life named him number 25 out of the top 100 most influential figures shaping the countryside.

In 1998 he became Policy and Campaigns Director of Friends of the Earth. From 2003 to 2008 he was the organisation’s UK director. From 2001 to 2008 he was also elected Vice Chair of the 70-strong network of national organisations that comprise Friends of the Earth International.  He contributed to many of Friends of the Earth’s most important achievements including legislation enacted to protect wildlife habitats, recycling laws, legal controls on carbon dioxide emissions, and policy changes in the transport and farming sectors.

During his tenure as director the national organisation of Friends of the Earth was the highest profile environmental group in the UK. The organisation’s annual income increased to nearly £11 million and professional staff increased to over 160. At the same time, Friends of the Earth International increased its profile and income, recruited many new member countries and for the first time adopted a comprehensive strategy.

Tony Juniper previously worked as a professional ornithologist, and from 1989-1990 spearheaded a program with Birdlife International to prevent the extinction of critically endangered parrots. He became a recognised expert on this group and in 1998 co-published Parrots: A Guide To The Parrots Of The World, which was judged ‘reference book of the year’ by the UK Library Association In 1999.

He is a prolific writer and regularly contributes to The Guardian and Resurgence magazine and blogs on Comment is Free at the Guardian website. He has worked on advisory panels for the British Council, the Ecologist and BBC Wildlife magazines and when the National Geographic launched their Green Magasine Supplement in 2009, they appointed Tony as the Editor-in-Chief. In 2017 Tony co-wrote a Ladybird book on climate change with Prince Charles.

Due to his talents, direct experience, and knowledge, Tony is a regular contributor on radio and TV and is in great demand as a keynote speaker.