Paul Gilding

Paul is one of the world’s most experienced and respected authorities on the implications of sustainability and climate change for business strategy and the economy.

His career has seen him serve in the Australian military, be global head of Greenpeace, teach and research at the University of Cambridge, be a top advisor to global corporations, write a seminal book on economics and sustainability and be a successful entrepreneur.

With over 40 years’ experience, Paul provides deep insights into the challenges and opportunities that environmental and social trends present for society, companies and investors.

Amongst various current positions, he is a Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). In this role he researches and lectures on ‘Radical Innovation – Accelerating Clean Disruption’ exploring the inevitable market disruption as we transform the global economy at sufficient speed and scale to address system wide risks. Another current focus is exploring how systemic shocks like climate change, COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of the Ukraine are accelerating the disruption of the global food system, driving transformational change in the methane heavy meat and dairy sectors, with a new paper “Methane, Markets and Food”.

As a corporate advisor he has worked with the Boards and Executives of many leading global companies including Unilever, BHP Billiton, Royal DSM, Ford and DuPont. Through this work he has developed close working relationships with a large number of Chairs, CEOs and Executives, helping them to deepen their understanding of the relationship between sustainability, business value and strategy.

As an author and advocate he has written a range of seminal journal papers and articles, including “The Mother of All Conflicts” on climate change and security, “The One Degree Plan War Plan” (with J Randers) on mobilising the global economy and society to successfully address climate change and “Climate Contagion” on how economic disruption is inevitable in the face of climate change. His blog, The Cockatoo Chronicles, explores the business implications of a rapid, sustainability driven transformation of the economy. His book “The Great Disruption” has been widely acclaimed, including in the New York Times where Pulitzer Prize winning writer Tom Friedman concluded, “Ignore Gilding at your peril”.

Over his 40+ years as an activist and social entrepreneur he has been CEO of a range of innovative NGOs and social enterprises including Greenpeace International, Ecos Corporation and Easy Being Green. In recent years he co-founded Disruptive Consulting and the Changing Markets Foundation. He lives in Tasmania, Australia on a family run mixed farm which is part of an integrated agriculture and food tourism venture, the Port Cygnet Cannery.