Lord Deben

Biographical Information
"The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben was the longest serving Secretary of State for the Environment the UK has ever had. His sixteen years of top-level ministerial experience included Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minster for London, Employment Minister and Paymaster General in HM Treasury. In two hundred years, only five others have held so long a period of office.

"His experience as an international negotiator has earned him worldwide respect both in the business community and among environmentalists. In consecutive years, the BBC unprecedentedly awarded him the title "Parliamentarian who did most for the Environment Internationally", while the NGO community called him "the best Environment Secretary we have ever had". He has consistently championed a via media between business and environmental concerns. To that end, he set up and now runs Sancroft, a Corporate Responsibility consultancy working with blue-chip companies around the world on environmental, social and ethical issues.

"Since leaving office he has been Chairman of the Marine Stewardship Council, Chairman of the International Commission on Sustainable Consumption and Non-Executive Director of Kidde Plc. He is currently Chairman of Sancroft International, Valpak Ltd. and Chairman of the Association of Independent Financial Advisors.

"In December 2005 David Cameron appointed him Chairman of the Quality of Life Commission. The Quality of Life report, "Blueprint for a Green Economy", was launched in September 2007."

Affiliations

 * Chair, Veolia Water UK
 * Director, Castle Trust
 * Green Alliance: Individual Members
 * Patron, John Ray Initiative
 * Patron, Shark Trust