WHO WE ARE

LCEF is powered by people who want to see a fair and equitable transition to a zero pollution, zero waste, naturally thriving world

LCEF is run by its Director with support from a growing team.

The board of trustees is made up of people from across the movement and has the aim to set the long-term strategic direction of the organisation and ensure its operation is conducted with robust governance.


The advisory group represents a wide cross-section of the labour, climate and environment sections and provides tactical advice to the organisation.

Staff

Paul McNamee

Director

Paul has thirteen years of experience working in the political and environmental sphere. Most recently he worked in the Mayor’s Office at the Greater London Authority, advising on environment and energy, covering the Ultra Low Emission Zone expansion and the Mayor’s presence at COP27.

Before that he was head of politics at environmental think tank Green Alliance and on the public affairs team of international conservation charity RSPB. He started his career working for a number of Labour MPs at Westminster, including Kerry McCarthy and Ben Bradshaw.

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Megan Corton Scott

Deputy Director

Megan has many years of professional experience in the labour and climate movement, and most recently worked in the politics team at Greenpeace UK, covering campaigns including the Global Plastics Treaty, sewage, and the electoral salience of climate policies.

Prior to this, she worked for a Labour led local authority and prior to that, for a Labour MEP in Brussels. She started her political career working for Progress (now Progressive Britain).

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Patrick Geddis

Programme Manager (Climate Planning)

Patrick focuses on net zero infrastructure and the planning system. Previously he has worked in consultancy at the Centre for Progressive Policy, where he focused on energy and net zero, and for Labour MP James Murray in Westminster. He is originally from Northern Ireland and attended Queen's University Belfast and King's College London.

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Shanika Mahendran

Programme Manager (Air Quality and Transport)

Shanika's focus at LCEF is on air quality and transport. Before joining LCEF, she worked in the Local Government team in the Leader of the Opposition's Office. She has also worked in political communications, both as a freelancer and for the Co-operative Party.

Outside of LCEF, Shanika serves as a Cabinet Member for Economy, Sustainability and Innovation in Milton Keynes. She holds an MSc in Sustainable Cities from King's College London. 

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Alex Mackaness

Programme Manager (Nature and Land-Use)

Alex's core focus at LCEF is on land use, nature and agriculture. Previously he worked at the RSPB and before then the Soil Association, focusing on how land can be managed best for people, climate and nature. 

Prior to this he worked at Defra on the agricultural transition and the economics of agri-food supply chains. He has a background in farming and has worked on arable, sheep and dairy farms in the UK and New Zealand. 

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Ruairidh Macintosh

Senior Advisor

Ruairidh focuses on the policy and politics of Net Zero. Outside of LCEF, he works with FTSE100 companies on what it will take to accelerate the transition and was previously a special advisor to the UN Climate Change High Level Champions. He has particular experience on public opinion and political strategy, both on climate change and more widely. Ruairidh is also a Fellow with Labour Together.

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Alex Chitty

Senior Programme Officer

Alex came to LCEF from the Movement Building team at RSPB where she worked on their Attack on Nature campaign, the multi-organisational Save our Wild Isles campaign, and as a national organiser for volunteer campaigners. She previously worked for Labour MP Wes Streeting, in Westminster and in his constituency office. She holds a BA in Politics and Parliamentary Studies from the University of Leeds.

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Shristi Ghosh

Programme Officer

Shristi focuses primarily on MP and PPC engagement at LCEF. Before joining, she worked in public affairs consultancy at H/Advisors Cicero, where she collaborated with businesses and trade associations in the financial services and energy sectors. Her responsibilities included briefing clients on various issues, including ESG policy and infrastructure planning, across multiple jurisdictions. Prior to her stint in public affairs, Shristi worked in Keir Starmer’s Constituency Office, as well as an LSE Public Research Partner. Shristi holds a degree in Politics and Economics from the London School of Economics.

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Baroness Young of Old Scone

Barbara is a Member of the House of Lords, has been Chairman of the Woodland Trust since 2016 and was appointed the Chairman of Council at the Royal Veterinary College in July 2019. Her other voluntary positions include Honorary President of the South Georgia Heritage Trust; Patron of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management; and Vice President of RSPB, Bird Life International and Flora and Fauna International.

She has formerly held a variety of environmental leadership roles, including Chief Executive of RSPB, Chairman of English Nature and Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.Baroness Young began her career in health service management in teaching districts in Scotland and London.  She was also founder chair of the Care Quality Commission and Chief Executive of Diabetes UK and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017.

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Carwyn Jones

Professor Rt. Hon. Carwyn Jones is a former First Minister of Wales, a role he held between 2009 and 2018. He left the Welsh Parliament in 2021 after representing the Bridgend constituency for twenty-two years which included eighteen consecutive years in government. Before politics he practised at the Bar for ten years and was a Professional Tutor on the Bar Vocational Course at Cardiff University. He is now a Professor at Aberystwyth University with a strong interest in constitutional law. He is also Bencher at Gray’s Inn.

Since leaving politics he has also been involved in broadcasting and business consultancy and is also involved with a number of charities. His autobiography was published in 2020.

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Cllr Rishi Midlani

Rishi has worked in Climate and Sustainability for 14 years, primarily in financial services. He was previously Head of Climate and Sustainable Finance at NatWest Group focused on supporting customers transition to a lower carbon economy. He also serves as an elected ward Councillor and is chair of the Camden Pensions Committee. The fund is a Local Government Pension Scheme and won a LAPF Award for its innovative approach to ESG. He is also Shareholder Chair of the LCIV pool, representing around £45bn of Local Government Pensions.

In his voluntary work, Rishi is elected to the board of the UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association, helping to drive Responsible Investment, on the board of UK100, supporting local climate action, and is an Emeritus Governor of the London School of Economics & Political Sciences.

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Tobias Garnett

Tobias is a political advisor on climate and energy policy at the Labour Party. He joined Keir Starmer's leadership campaign after a fellowship at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he focussed on the politics of the energy transition. Before moving into climate and energy policy, Tobias was a human rights lawyer, and was made the Law Society's Human Rights Lawyer of the Year for his work to get journalists out of jail in Turkey.

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