1. This is the 1^st of three podcasts on Climate Change.

2. Today’s guest is Sir Jonathon Porritt CBE, a distinguished British environmentalist, broadcaster and writer.

3. Jonathon Porritt was educated at Eton College, from whence he went to Oxford, to read modern languages. Graduating with a first class degree, Jonathon qualified as a teacher in 1974, teaching at St Clement Danes Grammar School, in Shepherds Bush, West London. He remained at the school for 10 years, including serving as Head of English from 1980 to 1984. 

4. As much as Jonathon loved teaching, it was his childhood appreciation of wildlife that seduced him into trying his hand at politics. He joined and became a prominent member of the Ecology Party (now the Green Party of England and Wales), becoming its co-chair in 1980. He subsequently became a full-time chair of the party, carrying out many changes in the process, thus making the party more prominent in national elections. Jonathon stood for parliament in the general elections of 1979 and 1983; he did not win, but received attention from national media. He was instrumental in growing the party membership from just a few hundred members to around 3000. 

5. However, in 1984, Jonathon gave up both teaching and the chair of the Ecology Party; to become a director of Friends of the Earth in Britain - a position, he held until 1990 - a decision which in his own words, “was probably the best decision of my life.” For he transformed the Friends of the Earth into the face of “radical respectability,” by encouraging the organisation to promote practical solutions locally, as well as thinking globally. His tenure at the Friends of the Earth saw the charity’s membership grow from 12,700 to 226,300. Friends of the Earth is now a hefty international powerhouse of ideas and solutions.  

6. Jonathon’s accomplishments in the cause of climate change and the environment are too many to mention here, but one may be cited. In 1996, Jonathon, along with Ms Sara Parkin OBE and Professor Paul Ekins OBE, co-founded Forum for the Future. Forum for the Future is a sustainable development charity, working in partnership with businesses, governments and civil society to accelerate the shift towards a sustainable future. The charity specialises in addressing critical global challenges by catalysing in key systems, from food to apparel, energy to shipping. 

7. Jonathon is the author of many books on environmental issues, including presenting television series on them; he has chaired the United Nations environmental and development committee for the UK. His greatest work by far, however, is his book, Hope in Hell.

8. In this Episode, we discuss the topic: Climate Change: The New Apocalypse?

19. Look up Episode 008 of Conversations with Stephen Kamugasa, and please rate and subscribe to Conversations with Stephen Kamugasa podcast through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our guest thought leaders.