With Earth Day coming up on 22 April, here are a selection of experts ready to speak to the media on everything from net zero to waste management. 

To get comments from them for your upcoming feature or article, reach out via the Journalist Enquiry Service – just fill in the form here to send an enquiry.

John Ellmore, editor and spokesperson for Electric Car Guide

Expertise: John has over 20 years of writing experience for titles such as City A.M., FE News, and NerdWallet.com, covering various automotive and personal finance topics. He also recently started representing EV Schemes as a writer and spokesperson. Before Electric Car Guide, John co-founded the financial guidance site Know Your Money in 2004, and was the company’s spokesperson for consumer finance and automotive issues.

Speak to John about: The impact of electric vehicles on climate change, renewable energy in EV charging, policy, and incentives for EV adoption.

What small action is John undertaking to fight climate change?  ‘I try my best to find products that are eco-friendly, like sustainably sourced food and clothing, trying to support industries that prioritise the environment.’

Ed Crowther, environmentalist and founder of My Square Metre

Expertise: A TEDX talker, educational contributor, and one of Lincolnshire’s ‘30 under 30’, Ed’s first job was on an organic farm which sparked his lifelong interest in nature. In 2021, Ed launched My Square Metre, an online platform allowing people and businesses to ‘Micro Offset’ elements of their environmental footprint through the creation of meadowland on degraded soil. The business developed its environmental and ecological strategy with experts at the University of Lincoln, to perform surveys, develop its planting policy, and to strategically target land that will have the most positive impact. 

Speak to Ed about: Easy ways to calculate daily carbon activities, wildflower planting as an effective way to offset carbon, and the importance of biodiversity.

What small action is Ed undertaking to fight climate change? ‘The team and I have been working hard to plant new areas of wildflower meadow and increase the biodiversity on the land they protect. Every time someone chooses to offset their land and space with them, they find out what the land needs and get to work. So far, we have planted 1,744 square metres of meadowland with 872,000 wildflowers and offset 5,232kg of CO2, and these numbers are only climbing.’

Daniel Kaul, CEO and founder of Natucate

Expertise: Daniel has been operating the educational travel company Natucate for the past 10 years. He created the company out of a desire to educate travellers about the world’s wildest places, and of the efforts to conserve them. Natucate works with a variety of carefully chosen NGOs across the globe where the majority of Natucate trips currently run.

Speak to Daniel about: Conservationist issues in Southern Africa; such as opportunities around conservation, protecting biodiversity, the rising power of citizen science, human-wildlife conflicts, illegal poaching, logging and canned hunting. He is also very well-placed to speak about current travel trends.

What small action is Daniel undertaking to fight climate change? ‘Advising a range of NGOs and charities on how they can boost their conservation efforts. Plus, harbouring circularity and biodiversity in several ways such as rewilding the garden and keeping chickens.’

Marjella Lecourt-Alma, CEO of Datamaran

Expertise: Marjella leads offices in the UK, Spain, USA, and the Netherlands – a global team of 120+ ESG experts, data scientists, commercial executives and technology professionals. She pioneered the concept of Smart ESG and, at age 30, became the youngest female director of the Global Reporting Initiative – the most widely used standard for measuring and managing ESG issues. 

Speak to Marjella about: The frameworks corporations must adhere to – and where the crucial challenges are coming up for corporations, especially in the US and EU. This includes all topics on ESG, CSRD, and the SEC Climate Disclosure Rules in the US and all major upcoming ESG policy. She can also speak on the use of AI in ESG, on climate change generally, and GhG emissions.

What small action is Marjella undertaking to fight climate change?  ‘I moved back to the Netherlands post-pandemic, and I now use my bicycle as my means of transport whenever I can.’

Claire Atkins Morris, sustainability director at Sodexo UK & Ireland

Expertise: Claire is a well-respected industry expert in the area of net zero and decarbonisation. She has an MSc in Environment Management and is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and an external assessor for the Institute of Environment Management & Assessment (IEMA). Claire’s focus is on making Sodexo’s net zero plan a reality and she is passionate about setting realistic and achievable targets to decarbonise the business. She has also spoken at a number of large conferences and events such as edie 24, Brands2Life Sustainability, and Plant Based World Europe.

Speak to Claire about: Driving net zero in a large complex organisation, engaging and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to make a difference and progress on net zero targets. Plus, working with organisations such as WWF and SBTI to set realistic yet ambitious targets, as well as tackling food waste and fighting food insecurity.

What small actions is Claire undertaking to fight climate change? ‘Working with clients, suppliers and employees to deliver sustainable change in a collaborative and impactful way. Engaging people in the fight against climate change, incentivising change in their own lives and empowering them to act to make a difference is crucial in any sustainability strategy.’

Raffi Schieir, founder of Prevented Ocean Plastic and director of Bantam Materials UK Ltd.

Expertise: Raffi is a social entrepreneur and recycled plastic specialist. Originally from Canada, he moved to the UK in 2011, taking a hands-on approach to understanding the problems and solutions around plastic pollution as he established Bantam Materials UK Ltd. Working with the global thought leaders in recycling, he went on to create the vertically-integrated supply chain that is the Prevented Ocean Plastic™ programme.

The programme has prevented over 2.5 billion bottles from reaching the ocean, and has been nominated for the Earthshot Prize in 2023 and 2024. In January 2020, Raffi and his team established the Prevented Ocean Plastic™ Research Centre to help collate first collector demographics, explore the movement of litter from land to sea, and understand consumer purchasing behaviour with regard to recycled materials. 

Speak to Raffi about: Ocean plastic pollution, recycled plastic, waste management, infrastructure builds, impact investment, circular economy, responsible sourcing, just transitions, supply and value chains, and thought leadership.

What small actions is Raffi undertaking to fight climate change? ‘We all have a part to play. At Prevented Ocean Plastic, we have announced our 25 by 2025 initiative to develop 25 high-capacity collection centres in areas that are at-risk of ocean plastic pollution. We’ve also partnered with the University of Georgia to fund their latest study into the Hydraulic Movement of Litter, so we can better understand the transfer of waste from land to sea. For business leaders, we need advocates who will push to bring Prevented Ocean Plastic and other recycled materials into their supply chain. And for consumers, we need people to support these efforts by looking for the Prevented Ocean Plastic logo wherever they do their weekly shop, and sending a clear message to big businesses by making sure to choose recycled.’

Cory Reynolds, corporate affairs and communications director at Veolia

Expertise: Cory currently occupies the waste management seat on the pEPR Scheme Administrator Interim Steering Group, helping to advise the Government on sustainable packaging and legislation that will bring about more recycling and a more circular economy. She recently hosted representatives from across the plastics industry to discuss a reform to the Plastics Packaging Tax which could bring about £1.1bn in investment, 2,500 new green collar jobs and 40 new UK facilities.

Speak to Cory about: The waste and recycling industry, decarbonisation projects, and water treatment innovations.

What small actions are you making today that are helping the environment for the future? ‘We believe all of our 13,000 employees contribute to our purpose of ecological transformation – which means championing projects and operations that decarbonise, depollute and regenerate resources. Whether that’s through wastewater treatment, recycling or low carbon energy production innovations.’

On the Journalist Enquiry Service you can reach thousands of expert sources in all sectors; this is just a snapshot of the calibre of experts ready to talk about climate and the environment or their specific areas of expertise that you can connect with.

If you want to interview one of these individuals specifically, drop a line to andrew.strutt@responsesource.com and we’ll connect you. Otherwise, head to responsesource.com/send to reach these and many more people who can help you with your story.