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Trade Climate Assembly

Who we are

Who we are

The Trade and Climate Assembly

This project is a collaboration between Liam Campling, Professor of International Business and Development at Queen Mary University of London, the Trade Justice Movement, a UK coalition of nearly 60 civil society organisations calling for trade rules that work for people and planet, and Mutual Gain, a deliberate democracy organisation that works on citizens’ assemblies and techniques that encourage dialogue, deliberation and social action

The Team 

Professor Liam Campling has researched trade and sustainable development for almost 20 years, focusing on the relationships between EU trade policy, food and automotive value chains, and social and environmental standards and outcomes. He regularly advises regional governmental bodies, the EU and UN agencies, and participates in bilateral and WTO trade negotiations, including the very first WTO agreement to use trade rules to achieve environmental outcomes.

George Holt is senior researcher at the Trade Justice Movement. She is an experienced social researcher, with 10 years of experience managing both qualitative and quantitative research projects across a range of policy sectors. In 2020, she was the lead researcher for the ‘National Trade Conversation’, a deliberative research project designed to identify UK consumer priorities for the UK’s trade policy.

Tom Wills is the Director of the Trade Justice Movement and has eight years’ experience of advocacy and campaigning around trade justice, human rights and fair supply chains. Prior to working in the NGO sector, Tom was a civil servant in three UK government departments.

Susan Ritchie is Director of Mutual Gain. Her career has focused on community-led change that influences strategic policy making. She designs and delivers citizens’ assemblies, manages significant Participatory Budgeting programmes, and facilitates Appreciative Inquiry and World Cafés to shape public policy. She shares the learning through an online learning platform to enhance professional practice in community engagement.

Project partners

This project is being implemented in close collaboration with:

  •  Sortition Foundation are leading on recruiting 60 citizens from across the UK to take part in the Assembly. They have carried out recruitment, selection and sortition work for wide variety of local councils, national parliaments and other organisations. 

Advisory board

The project will be overseen by an advisory board to ensure it achieves its objectives. This will include duties such as helping to make sure the information discussed by participants is accurate and balanced and helping ensure the recommendations are considered by stakeholders and policymakers.

The advisory board will be composed of experts in trade and climate change from a range of professional backgrounds including academia, businesses and civil society. Membership of the advisory board is in the process of being confirmed. 

 

The Advisory Board's second meeting on 13 May 2024

Board Members:

Jeremy Anderson, Director of Just Transition and Sustainable Transport, International Transport Workers' Federation

Kiera Box, Lead on Trade and Environmental Regulation, Friends of the Earth

Doreen Grove, Head of Open Government, Scottish Government

Chris Heaton, Deputy Director of Trade Policy and Negotiations, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Bernice Lee, Research Director, Chatham House

Danisha Kazi, Senior Economist, Positive Money

Tania Kumar, Net Zero Director, Confederation of British Industry (TBC)  

Philippa Nuttall, Deputy Editor of Sustainable Views, Financial Times

Asad Rehman, Director, War on Want

George Riddell, Trade Strategy Director, EY

Liz Snape, Assistant General Secretary of UNISON

Chris Southworth, Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce

David Symons, Director, Aldersgate Group

Sukhi Toor, Head of Multilateral Green Trade Policy, Department of Business and Trade

Nick Von Westenholz, Director of Trade, National Farmers Union

The Advisory Board Terms of Reference are here: Evidence Comittee Terms of Reference.

Evidence Committee:

The purpose of the Evidence Committee is to support the project team in ensuring that the information discussed by participants is accurate and that evidence is gathered from a range of perspectives.

The Evidence Committee provides guidance, feedback and challenge. It members have expertise in aspects of trade policy and/ or climate policy and include:

Ruth Bergan, Head of Policy and Advocacy, Transform Trade

Maddie Harris, Senior Evidence Specialist, Joint Nature Conservation Committee

James Harrison, Professor of Law, University of Warwick

Luke Maxfield, Senior Analyst, Carbon Budgets Team, Climate Change Commission

Ludivine Petetin, Reader in Law, Cardiff University

The Evidence Committee Terms of Reference are here: CATC Evidence Committee ToR [PDF 130KB]

Sources of funding 

The support of the following funders has made this project possible:

  • Queen Mary University of London 
  • Samworth Foundation 
  • Unison 
  • Waterloo Foundation 
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