Eliot is part of CISL’s leadership team and is responsible for both its Foresight and Convening work. His remit covers CISL’s work developing new insights and analysis and its work bringing business, government and financial institutions together to unlock wider change.
Under him are teams delivering the work of CISL’s Corporate Leaders Groups, which bring businesses together to positively engage with EU and UK policy makers; CISL’s Centre for Sustainable Finance, which brings banks, insurers and investors together to shift the financial system and CISL’s research work including The Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship Programme.
Biography
Eliot’s work has a strong focus on climate change, but he also helps drive action on nature, the circular economy, plastics and issues around the social and justice implications of economic change. He represents the Corporate Leaders Group on the board of the We Mean Business Coalition and has been responsible for CISL work that has included collaborations with the World Bank, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UNFCCC, a number of European governments and a wide range of senior business stakeholders. He regularly advises business and government and has sat, for example, on the UK government’s BEIS Economic Recovery Taskforce on Net Zero and Treasury Net Zero Review Technology and Innovation Advisory Group.
He has over 20 years’ experience in working to unlock systemic change, including providing policy analysis around climate action for Save the Children and Christian Aid, leading Christian Aid’s UK lobbying work with parliamentarians and political parties, and working on mobilising grassroots campaigning in locations from Addis Ababa to Birmingham.
Publications
Blogs
Building the future - a picture of the new climate leadership
30 September 2020 – A new form of corporate climate leadership is emerging characterised by clear ambition, concrete action, compelling advocacy, and firm accountability, writes Eliot Whittington of the Corporate Leaders Group
IPCC Report: Watershed moment for climate action calls for strong leadership from EU
15 October 2018 – Eliot Whittington, Director of The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group, discusses the critical findings and implications of the latest IPCC Special Report.
The drive to net zero emissions should be the next space race
8 August 2018 – With a month to go to the Global Climate Action Summit, Eliot Whittington reflects on the innovation and competition that can emerge from the accelerated pursuit of a net zero emission economy.
Blog: Why the EU’s first post-Brexit budget must prioritise investment in climate action
7 March 2018 – Reflecting on the next EU budget post-Brexit, Eliot Whittington of The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group, explains why now is the time for the EU to show leadership and unity to drive climate action and make a net-zero carbon economy the new normal.
How can businesses move faster and smarter on plastic waste?
28 March 2018 – As concern about plastic waste increases and the need for business action mounts, Eliot Whittington, Director of Policy, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, reflects on how UK companies can move faster and smarter to address the issue. He makes the case for an ambitious roadmap to help companies work together in navigating an increasingly crowded landscape, to deliver system-wide changes in policy, public engagement and innovation that deliver the solution to our plastic waste problem.
Countries and regions seizing low carbon opportunities are best positioned for a brighter future
2 June 2017 – Eliot Whittington, Deputy Director, Policy, and Deputy Director, Corporate Leaders Group, discusses how the Paris Climate Agreement, and the overall commitment to address climate change it represents, is still alive and well, despite US withdrawal from the Agreement.
How can business foster justice in times of rapid change?
How can business foster justice in times of rapid change? Hostility to globalisation, rising inequality and accelerating innovation made world more volatile and uncertain in 2016 By Eliot Whittington, Deputy Director, Policy 21 December 2016 What a year. From the Brexit referendum to the election...
What would a bright future for the steel industry look like?
What would a bright future for the steel industry look like? By Eliot Whittington, Deputy Director, Policy 8 April 2016 In Port Talbot thousands of people are waiting to see if a buyer can be found for the steel works, a story that is reflected at other sites across the UK. Whatever the resolution...
COP21: Making history
COP21: Making history By Eliot Whittington, Deputy Director, The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group 4 December 2015 This article was originally posted on the website of The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group and is republished here with permission. “This can be done. We have the...
Corporate Leaders Group asks finance ministers to support a robust climate agreement
Corporate Leaders Group asks finance ministers to support a robust climate agreement Eliot Whittington, Deputy Director, The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group 2 November 2015 We now have just one month to go before tens of thousands of people descend on Paris for COP21 – the 21st Conference...
Words matter in the Paris climate agreement
Words matter in the Paris climate agreement We Mean Business 3 September 2015 Words matter. This is especially true for the Paris Agreement on climate change to be concluded this December. Businesses and investors have a clear stake in the words in the agreement and in the political commitment...
A building voice: business cranks up call for a bold climate deal
A building voice: business cranks up call for a bold climate deal Eliot Whittington 17 April 2015 For those working on climate change, it is often too easy to focus on what hasn’t happened. The size of the challenge is massive; the sense of progress too small. I know from talking to enlightened...
How well prepared are businesses for climate change?
How well prepared are businesses for climate change? Eliot Whittington 7 April 2015 The world is changing. The weather is becoming more volatile, with the number of extreme weather events on the rise. Climate change represents the new normal: the Earth is already showing the impacts of our actions...
UK political leaders show climate leadership
UK political leaders show climate leadership Eliot Whittington 18 February 2015 This Valentine’s Day the main political leaders in the UK took a break from electioneering to ' show the love ' and sign a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to work across political dividing lines to fight...
