Just Transition Commission: member biographies

Chair

Jim Skea

Jim Skea is a Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London with research interests in energy, climate change and technological innovation. He is currently the Co-chair of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which focuses on climate change mitigation. He was part of the scientific leadership for the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C. He is the Chair of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission and was a founding member of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, acting as its Scottish champion. Between 2012 and 2017 Professor Skea was Research Councils UK’s Energy Strategy Fellow and was President of the Energy Institute between 2015 and 2017.

He was Research Director of the UK Energy Research Centre from 2004-2012. Born in Scotland, Jim Skea read Mathematical Physics at Edinburgh University, followed by a PhD in energy research at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory. In 1981, he moved to Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to work on emerging US energy and environment policy. Since then, he has worked at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University (1983 to 1998), where he moved through the ranks, becoming a Professorial Fellow in 1994. He was subsequently Director of the Policy Studies Institute (1998-2004). He was awarded an OBE in 2004 and CBE in 2013 for his work on sustainable transport and sustainable energy respectively.

Commissioners

Jillian Anable

Jillian Anable is Professor of Transport and Energy at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds having previously spent many years at the University of Aberdeen. She leads programmes of research in the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and the Centre for Research on Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS), focussing on the potential for whole system (demand- and supply-side) solutions to reduce carbon, local emissions and energy from transport. She has influenced thinking on how to meaningfully segment society design and communicate targeted interventions that are both equitable and effective. She has authored or co-authored over 100 academic peer-reviewed journal articles and reports with projects mainly funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Energy Technologies Institute, the UK Department for Transport, Scottish Government and the European Union. She has sat on a number of advisory boards and strategy panels for UK Government Departments, National Research Councils and NGOs, including the UK Electric Vehicles and Energy Taskforce, Chair to the Research and Evidence Group for the Scottish National Transport Strategy (NTS) Review and NTS Delivery Board member.

Lang Banks

Lang Banks is one of Scotland’s leading environmentalists, He has worked for global conservation organisation WWF for over a decade and has been integral in their work addressing issues relating to climate change, clean energy, and marine protection. Lang was appointed Director of WWF Scotland in 2013. Since 2019, he has also held the position of Deputy Executive Director Advocacy and Campaigns at WWF-UK. A biologist by study, his interest in the natural world stems from childhood and has led to him becoming an influential and dedicated environmentalist. Lang served as a member of the original Just Transition Commission, between 2019 and 2021. In a voluntary capacity, Lang is Chair of the Postcode Innovation Trust, which provides grants and loans to support social enterprises as well as innovative funding for charities. Lang regularly Tweets and blogs about these and other subjects.

Ameena Camps

Ameena Camps is a project professional with a PhD in carbon capture and storage, and international experience in energy and climate change mitigation working across industry, government, community and academic sectors. Ameena's most recent projects include Uist Wind: a challenging £3.5 million wind energy community benefit project, presented with the Best Engagement Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards in 2020. She is currently working on a number of projects including the Net Zero Environmental Community Hub in North Uist, Outer Hebrides and the Uist RaLocal Energy Plan which is following an inclusive grass-roots approach for a Just Transition. Ameena has lived and worked in Uist for almost 6 years and is a Director of Community Energy Scotland.

Colette Cohen

Colette Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer for the Net Zero Technology Centre, an organisation committed to the research and development of technology to accelerate the Oil and Gas industry’s transition to an affordable net zero future. Colette has worked in the industry for more than 25 years, both in the UK and Internationally for BP, ConocoPhillips and Centrica E&P, where she was the regional VP for the UK and the Netherlands. Colette has a degree in Chemistry from Queens in Belfast, a masters in Project Management and Economics from CERAM in France and an honorary PhD from Aberdeen University. Colette was also awarded the Order of the British Empire by the Queen for services to the Oil and Gas industry. Colette is the Chair of the National Composites Centre and sits on the boards of OPITO, NORECO and DeepOcean. Colette is an active champion for the industrial transition of the oil and gas industry to a net zero future and a committed role model for women in industry.

Elaine Dougall

Elaine Dougall is Regional Co-ordinating Officer at Unite the Union and Lead Officer for Energy and Utilities for Unite Scotland. She has worked for Unite for 16 years originally as Unite Equality Officer and has worked across various sectors during that period including Not for Profit, Food and Drink, and Local Government. Elaine is a Member of the STUC General Council and STUC Women’s Committee. She has been an active member of the union for 30 years and worked in Glasgow City Council for 20 years, representing members across Glasgow City Council as a workplace representative and latterly Convenor.

Katie Gallogly-Swan

Katie Gallogly-Swan is the Policy Coordinator for the joint project between the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on supporting a green and just transition of the world economy. Prior to joining the team, Katie worked at Oxfam and ActionAid as well as a range of grassroots organizations in Scotland focusing on economic, climate and gender justice. She is Convenor of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group and sits on the Programme Advisory Group for the MSc in Climate Justice at Caledonian University. Katie holds a BA in Social Anthropology from Harvard University, where she won the Hoopes Prize for exceptional research, and a Master’s in Development Studies from the SOAS University of London, where she won the Development Studies Postgraduate Prize. 

Stephen Good

Stephen has been CEO of BE-ST (Built Environment – Smarter Transformation) since its launch in 2014, growing the organisation from a business plan idea to Scotland’s national innovation centre for construction and the built environment, with a mission to accelerate the built environment’s transition to net zero. 

A chartered architect to training, Stephen has 25 years’ experience working across the built environment, initially designing and delivering award winning community regeneration, affordable housing, education and healthcare projects with Anderson, Bell and Christie Architects, before joining construction firm CCG in 2007 to lead the technical delivery of what is now one of the UK’s most advanced offsite manufacturing facilities.

In 2010, Stephen added responsibility for sustainability, research and development and innovation activities across the CCG group by establishing the Building Futures Lab. Stephen is a board member of the Construction Leadership Forum, a strategic partnership between Scottish Government and the Scottish Construction industry. He is an advisor on Scottish Water’s Net Zero Expert Panel, a board member of our Building Standards Futures Board, a member of the UK Construction Leadership Council’s Construct Zero Steering Group, and he recently chaired the panel overseeing the Section 6 Energy Standards review of the 2022 Scottish Building Regulations for Scottish Government.

Richard Hardy

Richard Hardy is the National Secretary for Scotland and Ireland at the trade union Prospect, representing members in Government, Energy, Defence, Nuclear, Creative, Technology, Science and Heritage Sectors. He is a member of the STUC’s General Council, and has worked on Scottish Government stakeholder bodies including the Longannet Taskforce, the Sustainable Renewal Advisory Group and the Tourism Taskforce. He was a Commissioner on the first Just Transition Commission. Richard is an experienced Senior Trade Union Official having been a full time officer or lay activist for over 30 years, working across a variety of employment sectors. He was previously a Negotiations Officer with Prospect/IPMS for over 16 years in the NW, Midlands and London. Richard has been based in the Edinburgh office since 2014, becoming the National Secretary in 2016. Prior to joining Prospect, Richard worked in Government IT.

Dr Deborah J Long FRSGS

Deborah is Chief Officer at Scottish Environment LINK, the network for environmental non-governmental organisations in Scotland, whose aim is to be a strong coherent voice in pursuit of a sustainable Scotland. With a PhD in Palaeoecology, Deborah makes connections between specialists and policy makers, prehistory and today. She brings the long eye of history and the distance of the horizon to bear on policy development, focussing on using policy to build resilience of Scotland, especially its habitats and species, and to build a future for Scotland’s nature and Scotland’s people.

Deborah has extensive senior leadership experience in natural and cultural heritage in Scotland. Between 2016 and 2019, she led a multi-partner international consortium working with citizens, climate and soil scientists and policy makers across Europe. She is a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and an active board member of a number of charities in Scotland, who work on conservation, environmental rights and third-sector leadership.

Rachel McEwen

Rachel McEwen is Chief Sustainability Officer at SSE. Rachel joined SSE in 2007 and has been responsible for sustainability, including its climate change strategy, since 2013. Since being a member of the original Just Transition Commission, Rachel has engaged extensively with SSE’s shareholders and stakeholders on strategies and actions the company must take to deliver fairness as the company continues its transition to net zero. As a result, SSE became the first company in the world to publish a Just Transition Strategy outlining 20 principles to support people and communities in the decarbonisation journey and latterly published a Just Transition: From Principles to Action report. SSE was assessed in the World Benchmarking Alliance Just Transition report in November 2021 as being the most developed high emitting company in the word according to its Just Transition indicators. Rachel is also a non-Executive Director of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, the SSE subsidiary that owns and operates the electricity distribution and transmission networks in the north of Scotland. External to SSE, Rachel pursues a series of social justice issues and was Chair of the Leadership Group of Living Wage Scotland between 2014 and 2018 and is a Board member of both the Fair Tax Foundation and the Poverty Alliance. She has a first degree in Applied Economics and a Masters in International Political Thought. 

Jake Molloy

Jake Molloy worked offshore in the oil and gas sector for 17-years before being elected as the General Secretary of the independent oil workers union OILC in 1997. After merging with RMT in 2008 he became the RMT Regional Organiser with responsibility for all offshore energy activity which includes engaging and organising divers, seafarers, catering, engineering, drilling and now renewables sector workers. Jake has participated in a number of industry forums including Oil Spill Prevention Recovery Advisory Group (OSPRAG) dealing with the impact of the Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster, the Helicopter Safety Steering Group (HSSG) looking at helicopter safety in the sector after a number of fatal accidents, the Step Change Leadership Group which engages workers in offshore health, safety and environmental matters, and more recently the Scottish Government (SG) Energy Jobs Task Force, the SG Strategic Leadership Group and the UK Government North Sea Transition group.

Ann Pettifor

Ann Pettifor is an economist and Director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME). She is the author of The Case for The Green New Deal (Verso, 2019). In 2008 she jointly co-authored the original The Green New Deal (New Economics Foundation), which was later taken up by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the US Congress. In 2017 she published The Production of Money (Verso) on the nature of money, debt and banking. In 2020 accepted an invitation to chair the board of directors of A-Deus, an innovative, community-based clean energy company, based in Edinburgh. 

Ronnie Quinn

Ronnie Quinn is Chief Executive of NECCUS, the membership organisation supporting and representing members through the challenge of industrial decarbonisation primarily through Carbon Capture and Hydrogen. He has over 30 years’ experience in general management, with specific experience in the renewables and electricity industries. Ronnie’s professional career began as a solicitor where he worked both in private practice and in local government. He then moved into the electricity markets’ sector where he was Managing Director of the company administering the market in Scotland. Ronnie has worked for The Crown Estate where he led the transfer of its functions in Scotland to Scottish Ministers, being Crown Estate Scotland’s first Chief Executive. More recently he has been the Interim Chief Executive for the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. Ronnie also sits on the Board of Management of City of Glasgow College.

Satwat Rehman

Satwat Rehman is the Chief Executive of One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS). OPFS is the leading charity working with single parent families in Scotland providing expert advice, practical support and campaigning with parents to make their voices heard to change the systems, policies and attitudes that disadvantage single parent families. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the voluntary and public sector in Scotland and England, working in the fields of equalities, education, employability, economic development/regeneration and early years and childcare. Since joining OPFS in 2011, Satwat has been a member of several commissions and advisory groups including the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls and the Scottish Government's Social Renewal Advisory Board. She is on the boards of Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland, Child Poverty Action Group (UK), Children in Scotland and is Chair of Intercultural Youth Scotland. 

Nick Robins

Nick Robins is Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance with the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Nick has over 20 years’ experience in sustainable finance in banking, investment and financial regulation. A core focus of his work is how to mobilise investment for a just transition, and he is the founder of the UK’s Financing a Just Transition Alliance. Nick is author of The Road to Net Zero Finance for the UK’s Climate Change Committee and leads the finance platform for the Place-based Climate Action Network working with Climate Commissions in Belfast, Edinburgh and Leeds. He is also co-chair of the International Network for Sustainable Finance Policy Insights, Research and Exchange (INSPIRE).

Steven Thomson

Steven is a reader in agricultural economics and policy at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) where he has worked for over 30 years providing insights on agriculture, land use and the rural economy. He is embedded in the ongoing agricultural and land use policy reform process, providing analytical support and conceptual insights on opportunities to evolve agricultural support away from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy to something more tailored for Scotland. 

His research contributes to the evidence base on the potential opportunities, challenges and consequences (e.g. food production, rural economy, socio-cultural aspects) in achieving the climate change and nature restoration targets for the agriculture and land use sectors across the length and breadth of Scotland. Steven sits on our Academic Advisory Panel that supports the Agricultural Reform Implementation Oversight Board and previously provided academic support for Brian Pack’s Doing Better Initiative to Reduce Red Tape for Farmers and Rural Land Managers, and was a member of the independent Farming for 1.5 Degrees inquiry panel, the Hill, Upland and Crofting Group and the Suckler Beef Climate Group Programme Board. He maintains close links to the industry through stakeholder and industry engagement, support of Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service particularly through his SEFARI Gateway knowledge broker role. 

Working group commissioners

Rajiv Joshi

Rajiv Joshi is an economist, community organiser and entrepreneur currently leading Bridging Ventures, a global effort working to accelerate a just transition to a thriving and regenerative future through catalytic collaboration and systems change. He serves as an Advisor to Columbia Climate School and convened the Climate Action Lab in Glasgow at COP 26. Raj is a lead author of the Decisive Decade Inquiry into the Future of Climate Action – commissioned by Chief Architect of the Paris Agreement, Christiana Figueres, and Oxford Saïd Business School where he was an Executive in Residence. He was the first Managing Director of The B Team, where he served from inception in 2012 until 2019, working with eminent leaders to redefine the role of business in society. Raj was instrumental in galvanising adoption of a Net-Zero emissions goal, as a Founding Board Member of the We Mean Business Coalition and the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance.

Mark Reed

Mark Reed is a Professor of Rural Entrepreneurship and co-Director of the Thriving Natural Capital Challenge Centre at SRUC. One of the original architects of the Peatland Code, he is now helping develop carbon codes for other habitats and advising UK governments and the United Nations on the development of high integrity ecosystem markets. Professor Reed is chairing a SEFARI Strategic Advisory Group with representatives from across the UK policy, investor and landowning communities, to understand opportunities and threats from "green lairds" and investment funds that want to rewild Scotland to help reach net zero targets. He advises the Scottish Government on natural capital and ecosystem markets as a member of the Agricultural Reform Implementation Oversight Board, which is helping shape the Agriculture Bill, to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament next year.