- Jonathon Porritt
Jonathon Espie Porritt, CBE (born
6 July 1950 ) is an Englishenvironmentalist andwriter . Porritt appears frequently in the media, writing in magazines, newspapers and books, and appearing on radio and television regularly.Early life and family background
He was born in
London , and educated atEton College andMagdalen College, Oxford . Despite training as a barrister, he decided to become an English teacher at St Clement Danes Grammar School (later Burlington Danes School) in Shepherd's Bush, west London in 1974.Porritt is the son of Lord Porritt, 11th
Governor-General of New Zealand . As well as receiving a non-hereditary life peerage, Lord Porritt had previously been awarded abaronet cy. Jonathon Porritt is entitled to claim the baronetcy, becoming The Hon Sir Jonathon Porritt, 2nd Baronet, but has so far declined to do so. [http://www.baronetage.org/unproven.htm Baronetage website] ] He has two daughters. [Who's who]Political and campaigning career
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Porritt was a prominent member of the Ecology Party. As chair of the UK Ecology Party (now the Green Party) from
1978 to 1984, he presided over changes that made the party much more prominent in elections. Under his stewardship, membership grew from a few hundred to around 3,000.In
1984 his first book, "Seeing Green", was published. In this year he also gave up teaching to become Director of Friends of the Earth in Britain, a post he held until1990 .After the Greens achieved 15% of the European Parliamentary vote in 1989, he became a strong public advocate of change in the Green Party. In particular, he advocated a more professional organisation with identifiable leaders.'Porritt urges streamlining of leadership system', Financial Times, 23 September 1989]
He also backed the election of
Cynog Dafis , the jointPlaid Cymru -Green MP forCeredigion . [http://www.greens.org/s-r/13/13-07.html Article by John Morrisey] ]With
Sara Parkin andPaul Ekins he foundedForum for the Future in1996 , asustainable development charity.He has also supported the
Forests Now Declaration , which calls for new market based mechanisms to protect tropical forests.Current activities
Porritt acts as advisor to many bodies on environmental matters, as well as to individuals including Prince Charles and Stuart Rose, the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, advising on that company's forward strategy. He is a board member of the
South West of England Regional Development Agency andWessex Water . [http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/about/board/interests.shtm Board of South West RDA] ]Porritt is on the advisory board of "
BBC Wildlife " magazine and actively supports the efforts of experts promoting renewable energy and sustainable development such asWalt Patterson . Since 2000, he has been chair of theSustainable Development Commission , set up by the UKPrime Minister Tony Blair . He has however been critical of the Labour government for its environmental record and its pro-nuclear stance. He is a patron of theOptimum Population Trust .A substantial re-write of his bestselling book [http://shop.earthscan.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/801/groupID/2/categoryID/5/v/9150ac8c-e30c-4ceb-b5a6-33eeed40a6df "Capitalism: As if the World Matters"] was published by [http://www.earthscan.co.uk/default.asp?sp=&v=1 Earthscan] in September 2007.
In July 2008 he became an honourary graduate of the University of Exeter [http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/newshongrads.shtml?icid=J079-4946172-072M]
Bibliography
Books
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*Articles
*Hilton, Isabel and Jonathon Porritt. “Sustainable development’s ‘taboo territory.’”
chinadialogue . 2007-05-30. [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1052-Sustainable-development-s-taboo-territory-]
* Perrement, Matt. “Interview with Jonathon Porritt: Sustainable development needs China.”chinadialogue . 2006-09-19. [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/386-Sustainable-development-needs-China] .
*Porritt, Jonathon. “China could lead the fight for a cooler climate.”chinadialogue . 2007-11-13. [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1471-China-could-lead-the-fight-for-a-cooler-climate-]
* Porritt, Jonathon. “China: the most important story in the world.”chinadialogue . 2006-09-18. [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/384-China-The-most-important-story-in-the-world] .ee also
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Environmentalism
*Forum for the Future
*Green Party of England and Wales
*Sustainable Development Commission External links
* [http://www.allbiographies.com/biography-JonathonEspiePorritt-37783.html Biography]
* [http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/porritt.html Sustainable Development Commission] - profile of Jonathon Porritt.
* [http://www.jonathonporritt.com Blog]
* [http://uc.princeton.edu/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2448&Itemid=1 Audio recording of Oct 25, 2007 talk at the RSA] on "Capitalism as if the world matters"
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3623021.stm Profile: Jonathon Porritt]References
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