Sustainability speaker Tom Rivett-Carnac is one of Global Optimism’s Founding Partners. He is in charge of the initiatives and engagements’ portfolio. His career spans 20 years in a variety of settings, including the worlds of climate change, energy policy, non-profit, finance, and diplomacy.

In his previous position, Tom served as Senior Advisor to the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. He was responsible for developing the political strategy that culminated in the historic Paris Agreement in December 2015. Prior to this, he served as President and CEO of CDP North America. This entity works to increase reporting of climate change-related opportunities and threats in the operations of listed companies through the use of the financial markets. 

The Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) currently receives climate information from more than 7,000 businesses. Investors use such information during asset allocation decisions and asset valuation. Throughout his time at CDP, Tom held a variety of positions, such as establishing the Cities Program. In addition, he was the Director of the world’s first global process to support disclosure by cities.

Speaker Tom Rivett-Carnac worked at Dyson and was also a Buddhist monk for two years. The Clinton Global Initiative, Leaders’ Quest, NY Stock Exchange, the Global Impact Investment Network had the pleasure to have Tom as their advisor.

Tom and Christiana Figueres collaborated on the book The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis, published in February 2020. Several international figures have thoroughly appreciated the book, including best-selling author Yuval Harari and business magnate Sir Richard Branson.

Tom has a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Economics and an MSc in Systems Science. He is married and has two children, and he resides in the city of London.