Photo by Petteri Kokkonen

I’m an ecologist with a background in tropical wildlife research and conservation. As detailed in my CV, I started out studying rainforest monkeys, apes and bearded pigs in Borneo, and later advised governments on biodiversity, protected areas and wildlife policy across tropical Asia, west Africa and the Americas.

Through all my consulting work I’ve been seeking solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental risk around the world. As lead consultant through my company Creatura Ltd I’ve evaluated over £10 billion in sustainable development and climate change investment. My eye-witness and lesson-learning books have been published by the World Bank, United Nations, Routledge, Virgin, Ellipsis and the California and Cambridge university presses.

My latest publications are Surviving Climate Chaos and a key paper on Earth system tipping points and what they mean for climate investment. As one reviewer put it, “despite immensely complex topics, Julian writes in an easily understandable and accessible way [and his] tone reflects the urgency of the situation and the passion of the author.”

My aim is always to tell meaningful and useful stories using examples to convey a sense of direction, risks, opportunities and alternatives. In particular, I try to bring an eye-witness clarity to transformative world events, from deforestation to restoring peace with nature.

As a consultant or speaker, I offer ecological expertise, field experience, deep analysis of complex issues, and direct knowledge of threats and solutions. These can help in spotting where opportunities were missed and why, and how performance can be ramped up, which can be useful to all institutions in a complex and increasingly risky world.