Meet the LSDC commissioners

Ashok is the Chair of the LSDC.

Ashok is CEO of Ashden. Previously, Ashok was Chief Executive of the London Cycling Campaign, and Director of The Climate Coalition, a co-founder of Make Poverty History and Director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign. Ashok has a PhD in renewable energy and conducted research into climate change and renewable energy in academia and Forum for the Future. Ashok has been named one of London’s 1000 Most Influential People by the Evening Standard for the last five years and was named one of the UK’s top 100 Environmentalists by the Independent on Sunday in 2008.

Register of Interests - Ashok Sinha

Maria is an urban placemaking and cities strategist. Her background is in planning, environment and human rights law. She is the Director and Founder of the Living Space Project, an urban placemaking social enterprise consultancy. She is also a Senior Fellow for Philanthropy and Place at the New York-based Projects for Public Spaces and co-founder of the UK Place Making Collective. ​

Maria is a former commissioner of the UK Sustainable Development Commission and the English Heritage Commission. She is currently patron or trustee of several, environment, heritage and placemaking boards and organisations including the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the Environment Agency.

Maria is the recipient of the first Clore Social Fellowship for environment and place, and is the author of short book 'The Place Making Factor'.

Register of Interests - Maria Adebowale-Schwarte

Syed has close to 20 years’ experience in the sustainable energy industry, in a wide variety of roles and organisations ranging from Friends of the Earth, the Combined Heat and Power Association, the GLA, and Arup. In 2014, he was seconded into the Department of Energy and Climate Change to review the UK Government’s demand-side energy policies. Syed established and is Director of Energy for London, an independent think tank supporting London’s progress to becoming a low-carbon city. Syed’s other current roles include being a Director of the Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group and a trustee of the fuel poverty charity National Energy Action.

Register of Interests - Syed Ahmed

David is Chief Executive of The Future Forest Company, which focuses on delivering high integrity nature-based solutions to help address the climate and biodiversity crises.  Until 2023 he was CEO of Trees for Cities, a charity that helps create high quality green spaces in socially and environmentally deprived parts of cities and towns across the UK and internationally.  He is a Trustee of the Shark Trust, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and the African Conservation Foundation (and previously the International Tree Foundation). David also mentors a number of green and clean tech early stage businesses and has sat on various advisory boards.

Register of Interests - David Elliott

Nick Mabey is Chief Executive of the think tank E3G, where he also leads its work on European climate change policy, climate diplomacy and foreign policy, and the security implications of climate change and resource scarcity. Nick was previously a senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, leading work on national and international policy areas, including energy and climate change. Nick also worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and was its lead for the Johannesburg Earth Summit in 2002. Before joining government, Nick was Head of Economics and Development at WWF-UK and a researcher on the economics of climate change at the London Business School. Nick has also worked in the UK electricity industry.

Register of Interests - Nick Mabey

Malini is Chief Executive of GLOBE International, a global parliamentary network devoted to legislative leadership on sustainable development and climate change. Malini is a civil society leader and non-profit founder. She has worked at the United Nations; led for the UK Government on sustainable development partnerships with emerging powers; established the Centre for Social Markets pioneering CSR in India and the diaspora; spearheaded global campaigns on trade, sustainability and human rights for NGOs such as Oxfam and Friends of the Earth; and has broadcast and written widely on sustainability, climate change, development, trade, gender and human rights.

Register of Interests - Malini Mehra

Richard has supported climate innovation and climate innovators since 2008. A retired Professor at Imperial College London, he founded the world’s longest running start-up accelerator specialising in climate innovation. This accelerator is now called the Greenhouse and is run by Undaunted, an organisation he co-founded in 2022. Undaunted is a collaboration between Imperial College London and the Royal Institution. It encompasses innovation on tackling climate change and sustainability challenges and served as a focus for London’s innovators in these domains.

Register of Interests - Prof Richard Templer

Paul has a diverse background of academic research in environment science, campaigning for WWF, providing independent strategic advise on sustainability, running a corporate social responsibility consultancy and managing the environmental and sustainability affairs of large companies. This includes Balfour Beatty, WSP Group, Bovis Lend Lease UK, and Grimshaw where he is the practice leader on sustainability. Paul has worked with governments in the UK, the EU and globally, as well as private sector and non-governmental groups, on the development of policy on issues of sustainable trade and the environment. Paul is a Fellow of the Institute of Environment and Management and the RSA, and chairs and participates in various forums that aim to improve the sustainability of the built environment.

Register of Interests - Dr Paul Toyne

Charlie is Environment Agency’s London Area Director. Her teams work closely with key organisations to engage early and work in partnership to make sure that London continues to be a world class city with a high-quality environment for those who live, work and visit it. Charlie’s team brings together the work of implementing the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan. Developed by the Environment Agency and its partners, the Plan sets out a vision for the estuary’s future adapting to a changing climate. Her teams are regulating the construction and permitting of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. More recently Charlie has been supporting the work of the London’s Strategic Surface Water Group with partners and has Co-Chaired this group following the flooding in 2021.

Her specific interests includes sustainable growth, environmental infrastructure, natural capital, net environmental gain and climate resilience. Charlie joined the Environment Agency as a graduate from Kings College London and has since undertaken diverse range of roles and built up a rich knowledge of many of the sectors covered by the organisation. This includes work on incident response, water quality regulation and the 2007 floods and Pitt Review. Charlie sits as an observer on the Thames Estuary Growth Board, is a Commissioner of the London Sustainable Development Commission, is a trustee on the Thames 21 Board and Trustee of a homeless charity, the Upper Room.

Register of Interests - Charlotte Wood

Dimitri Zenghelis is Project Leader for the Wealth Economy project centred at Cambridge University and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. He was Head of Climate Policy at the Grantham Research Institute at the LSE and Acting Chief Economist for the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. Previously, he headed the Stern Review Team at the Office of Climate Change, London, and was a lead author on the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, commissioned by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown. Before working on climate change, Dimitri was Head of Economic Forecasting at HM Treasury. He is a Coordinating Lead Author for the UN Global Environment Outlook, GEO-6.

Register of Interests - Dimitri Zenghelis

Leonie Cooper was elected to the London Assembly in May 2016 and re-elected in May 2021. She is Deputy Leader of the Labour Group at City Hall and leads for Labour on the Environment. Currently Chair of the Assembly Environment Committee, Leonie previously chaired the Environment Committee 2016-2018, and was Deputy Chair 2018-2021.

Under her leadership, the Committee produced reports on:

1.) how to reduce single-use plastic bottle waste in London, which led to the Mayor’s programme of water fountains and work with Refill London;

2.) how to tackle Londoners’ fuel poverty, which led to the first Mayoral Fuel Poverty Strategy;

3.) how to maintain London’s parks and open spaces, despite budget cuts.

Leonie also produced her own report for the Assembly Housing Committee on biodiversity in new housing developments, with recommendations to introduce biodiversity net gain and an Urban Greening Factor, which were subsequently included in the new London Plan.

During Leonie’s 2 years as Chair of the Economy Committee, 2019-2021, it produced its first-ever report on the Skills required for the Low-Carbon, Circular Economy, as well as looking at Food Insecurity. In 2022, when Leonie was chairing the Oversight Committee, it conducted an investigation into GLA Pension investments, including looking at both divestment and investment.

Prior to her election in May 2016, Leonie worked in the field of environmental sustainability and campaigned on air quality - an issue she has continued to work on since being elected.

Jo Blackman was elected as a councillor for Wanstead Village in the London Borough of Redbridge in 2018 and re-elected with a significantly increased majority in 2022 and has been cabinet member for the environment and sustainability on Redbridge Council since 2021. Jo is also a trustee of Epping Forest Heritage Trust, an elected executive member of Labour’s environment campaign (SERA), a school governor and Vice Chair of the East London Waste Authority.

Jo Blackman is also an experienced campaign strategist specialising in environmental campaigns with over 20 years’ experience, including heading up a global campaign at Global Witness that was instrumental in securing new laws on deforestation in supply chains in the UK and EU, and pushing the issue of deforestation finance up the political agenda. Jo headed up the Labour Party’s international relations from 2008 to 2015 and has worked for parliamentarians in Brussels and the UK.