Australian Board of Directors

John Thwaites

Chairman of the Board

John Thwaites was Deputy Premier of the Australian state of Victoria from 1999 to 2007 and an elected member of the Victorian Parliament from 1992 to 1997. Thwaites was Victoria's first Minister for Climate Change. He has also held the portfolios of Environment, Water, Health, Planning and Victorian Communities. He oversaw the introduction of 5-star energy and water efficiency standards for all new homes in Victoria, compulsory energy audits for major industry and the first mandatory renewable energy target for an Australian state. He also lead the Victorian Government's social justice policy - A Fairer Victoria - and has a particular interest in the impact of climate change on low income people.

John is a graduate in science and law from Monash University and practised as a barrister prior to entering Parliament.

Keith Scott

Keith Scott is an independent non-executive director with strong corporate governance, risk management, strategic and business development skills. He has also gained broad financial awareness from more than 30 years of international experience (Europe, Asia and Australia) in Director and Executive roles in the reinsurance business with blue chip organisations (Swiss Re, M&G Re), having started his career in the insurance business with Commercial Union Assurance (now Aviva).

With extensive experience of establishing, managing and developing businesses in European markets, Keith moved to Australia in 1999, where he repositioned Swiss Re’s business in the market. He then spent 2 years in Hong Kong as a Managing Director on the Asia Executive Team, developing business across all Asian markets. Keith is currently a Director on a subsidiary board of a major listed insurer as well as a state government insurer in Australia. He is also a Director on the boards of a takaful reinsurer in the Middle East and South East Asia.

Mark Kenber

Mark is an economist who has worked on environmental issues for over a decade in non-governmental organisations, the public and private sectors. Mark has been instrumental in developing The Climate Group’s global network and operations in India and China, and directed ground-breaking projects with the international finance, energy, technology and aviation sectors.

Mark advised former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the joint policy initiative Breaking the Climate Deadlock (2008-2009), which produced a series of high-level reports outlining the economic and technological rationale for a global climate deal and its key components. He is also a carbon markets expert and co-founded the successful Verified Carbon Standard (formerly Voluntary Carbon Standard) (VCS), now the most popular kitemark for the $400 million voluntary market.  He continues to be involved as Deputy Chair of the VCS Association.

Immediately prior to joining The Climate Group, Mark was Senior Policy Officer for WWFs International Climate Change Programme, focusing on carbon market and finance issues and coordinating the Programmes economics-related work. His other experience includes being Director of Planning at Fundacion Natura, Ecuadors largest environmental organisation, acting as climate change advisor to the Ecuadorian government and a wide range of consultancies. Mark is an occasional lecturer at Sussex Universitys Institute for Development Studies and also serves on the advisory boards of a number of environmental organisations.

Jim Walker

Jim helped to set up The Climate Group in late 2003 and is responsible for managing the Group's operations, fundraising and research. He has worked for six years as a consultant on public and private sector responses to environmental and social challenges. With Steve Howard, he has advised WWF International on the development of the Clean Development Mechanism Gold Standard and produced the business plan for The Climate Group, on behalf of Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Jim was lead author of the Mining Minerals & Sustainable Development report "Finding the Way Forward" on industry voluntary initiatives, and a contributor to the WWF-UK report "To Whose Profit?" on the business case for sustainability. He has produced stakeholder engagement reports for BP Scotland and Nirex, and has developed approaches for assessing corporate exposure to climate change-related risk. Prior to his environmental career, Jim was a professional athlete, competing in the British Rowing Team at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and at six World Championships. He holds a Bachelors degree in Biology and a Masters degree in Environmental Technology, both from Imperial College London.