So this is me…
A Scotsman who is concerned about the state of the world: environmental degradation, populism, human rights abuses, the final season of game of thrones?! But what can one person do about it all? I haven’t yet fully figured that one out, I know creating movements for change will certainly kick-start action, but I reckon everything begins by talking and that’s precisely what I intend to do on this site.
I’m Iain Keith, the Executive Director of the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group (CECG), a collaborative platform and pooled fund that brings together philanthropists and movement leaders to coordinate strategies, prioritize gaps, and deploy funding to strengthen and sustain the global climate movement. Prior to CECG, I spent over a decade helping build one of the world’s leading campaigning and advocacy organisations, Avaaz.org. Joining as an intern in a scrappy start-up, I grew to lead Avaaz’s climate and environment team spread across 30 countries on 4 continents. I have overseen hundreds of campaigns from regulation of bee killing pesticides, to winning marine protected areas and the landmark Paris Agreement. As an accomplished coalition builder and organiser, I have coordinated several mass global public mobilisations on climate change, including the 2014 People’s Climate March. Originally from Scotland, I am now based in Charlottesville Virginia, where I enjoy the Blue Ridge Mountains with my wife and young child, and occasionally find moments to potter in the garden. I hold a Masters of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, I’m a Patagonia Changemaker, and in 2014 I was named New York City’s Environmental Advocate of the year by Earth Day Network.
Through this site, I intend to divulge my random climate-related thoughts: from policy, to politics and society. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t--but like I say, everything begins with a conversation. Welcome to my site let the chat begin!