Annual review and summary financial statements 2024-25
Leadership for the environment
Chair’s introduction Laura Sandys

The general election in July 2024 saw a big Labour majority, overturning 14 years of Conservative and coalition governments. The election, however, exposed the increasingly divided nature of UK politics and a fracturing of the consensus on the need for action on climate and nature restoration. One of our big priorities in the years ahead, as the impact of the climate crisis bites, will be to rebuild cross party support.
In the run up to the election, we worked with the Conservative government to achieve as much positive change as possible, while also building strong relationships with Labour. We pressed for early action on environmental priorities.
We had some great successes. The Election Hub, which assisted us and other environmental groups to organise election messages and increase coherence, ensured the new government was clear about the sector’s priorities as soon as it took office. Commitments to nature friendly farming, secured before the election, were largely honoured. In a significant shift, the UK government promised, for the first time, to create a strategy for a circular economy. Disposable vapes were finally banned and there’s now a policy to tackle digital exclusion by repurposing previously wasted used digital devices. All of these outcomes had our stamp firmly on them.
There are plenty of challenges still ahead, which we are meeting with evidence and reason. We are seeing a weakening of some important environmental protections under planning laws and of key green policies such as the zero emission vehicle mandate, which we helped to bring into force in January 2024. But the big story was the government’s continuing strong commitment to decarbonisation of the power sector and to deliver clean power by 2030, a significant goal that we are there to support.
We spent this year consulting widely with our partners, funders and network on our new five year strategy, to be launched in September 2025. Persuading political leaders of the urgent need and many positive reasons to do more to stop
“There are plenty of challenges still ahead, which we are meeting with evidence and reason.”
thrilled that our executive director, Shaun Spiers received the recognition of an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list, reflecting his significant contribution to the environmental movement.
Shaun and the great team have delivered some real results this year and all the trustees want to thank them for their dedication.
environmental degradation, climate change and nature loss remains our core mission. Action will have social, economic and environmental benefits. But we are acutely aware of the political realities and unprecedented times in which we are operating. We will be presenting a plan that meets these challenges, with outcomes for the public central to its design.
I am so proud of what we achieved this year and the unique level of expertise we have been able to offer. Green Alliance’s experts are, more than ever, commenting in the media on a broad range of issues and we are regularly in demand by the UK’s governments for our highly valued advice.
The team at Green Alliance has been brilliant this year, going above and beyond, with the increased work around the arrival of a new government and the development of a strong, powerful strategy. With our growing ambition and the impact that we are committed to make, we are very pleased to have promoted Blanche Shackleton to deputy executive director. We were also
We have had to say goodbye to some of our longest serving and widely recognised trustees. We will greatly miss Dame Fiona Reynolds, Alison Austin and David Baldock who brought so much to the board and are so respected across the sector. However, we were thrilled to welcome Lamé Verre, Martin Harper, Saima Rasool and Colin Church who all have so much to contribute from environmental expertise, people focused policy knowledge and activism.
To all our trustees I want to say a huge thank you for your commitment and increased workload through the strategic review process. Together with the staff, we make a great team.
Laura Sandys Chair of trustees
1/ Our vision and strategy
In 2024, we published an interim strategic plan to guide our work up to September 2025, when a new five year strategy will be launched.
The longer time horizon of five years from 2025 will enable us to set our sights firmly on environmental action needed by 2030, an important target for the UK and globally, and our role in delivery. Our longer term strategy will reflect the political landscape, deliver a renewed approach to our work, focused on people and planet, and will fully embed our equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) goals across all our activities.
Our goals for 2024-25:
1. Securing the political mandate for ambitious action
Through an influential political and media narrative, we will build the mandate for the government to act with greater ambition on the nature and climate crisis. We will promote action across departments and work within parliament to upskill parliamentarians and advise on legislation. And we will continue to play an important convening role, connecting and informing organisations both within and beyond the environment sector.
2. Advocating decisive action in the new parliament’s first year
We set out comprehensive proposals for rapid action to achieve a fair green economic transition, in Securing our future: a programme for government. We will work with the government and our partners to advocate for these bold policies, with equity at their heart. Our areas of focus are broad, but they include driving faster uptake of heat pumps, promoting the circular economy, highlighting the benefits of cleaner transport to communities, ensuring an equitable transition to green steel, pushing for revised fiscal rules to drive green growth and faster action to restore nature.
3. Shaping the context for transformative environmental policy
We will focus on fundamental systemic issues and changes necessary to help politicians address some of the most complex environmental problems, like UK resource use, which we believe must be brought within planetary boundaries, and diet change, which is essential to address climate change and nature’s decline. We will press for faster, more co-ordinated UK action to adapt to climate changes and avoid the worst impacts on society, ensuring it is a government priority.
4. Preparing Green Alliance for the future
We are focused on ensuring our own culture, systems and processes align well with our values, so we can maximise our impact and enable the organisation and our people to thrive. Our priorities include meeting the goals of our 2023-25 equity, diversity and inclusion strategy, reviewing our recruitment processes and retention support to attract the best talent and continuing to diversify our income for a stable funding base.
Our work in 2024-25 was organised and is reported below under the following areas:
Political Leadership: raising political ambition on the environment.
–– L egislation and Governance Unit: influencing environmental legislation, regulation and governance.
–– Greening the Economy: economic strategies for a green future.
–– L ow Carbon Future: policy innovation for a fast and fair low carbon transition.
Resources: creating a resilient, circular economy.
Natural Environment: new business models and policy for nature recovery.
Our values
We are optimists
We believe a green and prosperous UK is achievable.
We are change makers
We are flexible and agile, focusing on where the power is, and on whatever we think will have the greatest impact.
We are collaborative
We are pluralists and believe collaboration and seeking to understand others’ viewpoints is the only way to make progress; this is reflected in how we operate both internally and externally.
We embrace complexity
We will never ignore the fact that environmental issues are inherently complex and inseparable from other important issues, including social impacts, and we do our best to address this in all our work.
We are inclusive
In all aspects of our work we seek to include, involve and listen to diverse voices and communities, as a necessary component of success.
2/ Progress report 2024-25
Impact highlights

We played a central role in the Election Hub of political strategists supporting strong environmental sector advocacy which ensured climate and nature issues were prominent in the 2024 general election.
Our Climate and Nature Leadership Programme informed over 50 new parliamentarians and their staff, from all the major parties, about the environmental crises.
We made the legal case for always applying environmental principles early in policy making.
With our Welsh NGO partners, we helped to shape Welsh Government proposals on environmental principles, environmental governance and biodiversity targets.
We secured a bill amendment ensuring a nationwide deadline will be set for zero emission buses.
We were pivotal in gaining government commitment to a new Circular Economy Strategy for England and cross departmental working on resource issues.

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Our senior fellow and head of resource policy Libby Peake was appointed as a member of the government’s Circular Economy Taskforce
As an early proponent of a faster innovation task force for the power system, we influenced the government’s new Clean Power Mission.
Our work was cited by ministers and MPs as vital in securing the UK ban on disposable vapes.
We were the only environmental organisation the Office for Budget Responsibility engaged with on its Fiscal risks and sustainability report.
Our work on The Warm This Winter campaign led to Green Alliance being invited to attend the ministerial working group on fuel poverty strategy.
We rebutted industry misinformation on the government’s measure to encourage zero emission vehicle production.
30,000
small electrical and electronic products that could easily be reused are instead recycled each week.14
Our joint business letter to the prime minister pressing for more action on critical minerals led the government to promise a strategy update.
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We directly influenced the government’s Digital Inclusion Action Plan so many more used but still useful devices will be redistributed to people who need them.
Our major health and climate conference, hosted with the Wellcome Trust, put a spotlight on the health impacts of extreme weather.


Political leadership
We aim to raise ambitions across the political spectrum, to reverse detrimental human impacts on the environment at home and abroad, as a prerequisite to achieving a thriving UK society and economy.
“We
played a central role in establishing an Election Hub of political strategists.”
Election hub co-ordination
We played a central role in establishing an Election Hub of political strategists which supported the environment sector through the 2024 general election. This helped to ensure a unified approach, provided strategic guidance and built a shared narrative around climate and nature priorities.
Post-election influence
Following the general election, we made a strong first impression with the new government, establishing early relationships with Number 10 and the departments. This early intervention positioned us well to promote climate and environmental policy priorities to the new administration, including in the Clean Power Mission.
Climate and Nature Leadership Programme for MPs
Through our work as secretariat of the Environment All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), we delivered a Climate and Nature Leadership Programme, jointly with the Climate APPG, for new MPs, peers and their staff. Over the course of this programme, we engaged with over 50 parliamentarians and staff from across all the major parties, holding events
“Colleagues across the House have said the Climate and Nature Leadership Programme is one of the most positive things they’ve done since starting in parliament.”
Andrew Pakes MP, in a speech to the Environment APPG
on the climate and nature crises. APPG events included hosting meetings with Emma Pinchbeck, CEO of the Climate Change Committee, and Ruth Davis, the government’s newly appointed nature envoy.
Project Boost
We launched a new initiative, Project Boost, to skill up staff across the environment sector on politics, assisting work focused on the new parliament. The year long programme, engaging with over 350 organisations, has included expertled sessions on how to engage with departments and legislative processes, and how to maximise political moments, like the budget or the spending review. This highly popular programme has already helped to increase the confidence and clarity of sector advocacy.
Warm This Winter coalition leadership
In response to the government’s decision to means test the Winter Fuel Allowance, we stepped up work with the Warm This Winter campaign, pressing the government around the poor policy communication. The campaign wrapped up at the end of March 2025 and we are evaluating its impact. One outcome of this work is that we were invited to attend the ministerial working group shaping the next fuel poverty strategy.
Opposing airport expansion
We opposed Heathrow Airport expansion, supported by the government in February 2025, both publicly and directly to the government. On this issue, we supported MPs’ responses and provided regular intelligence updates and strategic advice to other environmental organisations.
“An absolutely fabulous event and such a powerful evening.”
Attendee at the celebration of Caroline Lucas, June 2024
Celebrating green leadership
In June, we hosted an event at London’s South Bank Centre to mark Caroline Lucas’s departure as the UK’s first Green MP and celebrate her longstanding leadership on climate and nature. This joyful occasion, in a full hall highlighted the importance of sustained political commitment and cross party co-operation in environmental policy making and provided a space to reflect on the progress made and the challenges ahead.


“
If Green Alliance did not exist, we would have to invent it”
Environment minister Mary Creagh MP, in a speech to Green Alliance in September 2024
Legislation and governance unit
This unit, led by our senior fellow, Ruth Chambers, influences environmental legislation, regulation and governance and provides expert scrutiny and strategic advice to the environment sector.
Reviewing governance
Our major review of environmental governance across the UK featured in a publication for environmental lawyers. A joint event this year, hosted with the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment and the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA), had over 300 attendees.
Strengthening environmental protections in Wales
We worked with Welsh NGO partners, to submit expert evidence shaping Welsh government proposals for legislation on environmental principles, environmental governance and biodiversity targets.
UK environmental improvement plan
We participated in a review of the UK government’s Environmental Improvement Plan, steering its progress and findings. And we maintained pressure on Northern Ireland’s environment department to publish the country’s first environmental improvement plan (which it did in September 2024) and establish its independent environmental protection agency.
Legal intervention on principles
We conducted Green Alliance’s first legal intervention, to make the case that environmental principles should never be an afterthought but always considered at the outset and throughout government policy making processes.
Resources

Image from Making the connection: ending digital exclusion with reused devices
January 2025
“
We secured a government commitment to ban disposable vapes.”
The UK is one of the worst offenders globally for its rate of resource use, causing environmental harm at home and abroad. Throwaway culture is a major culprit. We are determined to turn this around and make sure the advantages of a circular economy, that preserves precious materials, pollutes less and creates new job opportunities, are not ignored.
Advising
on circular economy strategy
Ahead of the 2024 general election, we promoted the major asks from our business-led Circular Economy Task Force to the incoming government, aiming to achieve a reduction in the UK’s unsustainable resource use and, unlock the economic benefits of doing so. Two of these asks: more cross departmental working and a reboot of England’s resources strategy, were immediately taken forward through the establishment of the government’s own Circular Economy Taskforce, charged with creating England’s first Circular Economy Strategy in late 2025.
Our head of resource policy, Libby Peake, was appointed to the government’s taskforce, along with 18 other experts, to advise on the strategy and its delivery. This opportunity is a testament to our many years of sustained leadership on this area.
“Absolutely love
the report,
reads well, reads easily, and says exactly what it needs to say. There’s nothing anyone could disagree with.”
Paul Finnis, founder of Digital Poverty Alliance, on Making the connection: ending digital exclusion with reused devices (January 2025)
Cutting e-waste, ending digital exclusion
In a novel project, funded by Virgin Media O2 in partnership with the environment charity Hubbub, we investigated how to simultaneously tackle the problems of rising digital exclusion and mounting electronic waste. We proposed ways to unblock the barriers preventing used devices reaching people that need them, to allow widespread redistribution.
At a parliamentary launch, at which environment minister Mary Creagh spoke, we invited community groups already involved in device redistribution to show MPs how it can work.
When the government’s new Digital Inclusion Plan was launched in February 2025, it reflected our recommendations, and we were invited to join the advisory group designing a responsible device donation charter.

Securing a UK ban on disposable vapes
In 2023-24, after extensive advocacy with health organisations, we secured a government commitment to ban disposable vapes, to prevent their detrimental health and environmental impacts. However, the timing meant the proposed legislation was halted as the general election was called in 2024.

We picked up the issue again and advocated strongly for the new government to take it forward and were pleased when it was reintroduced early in the parliament, with acknowledgment of our contribution in the government’s press announcement. Our work was cited several times by ministers and MPs in parliamentary debates on the issue.
Informing MPs
With our Circular Economy Task Force, we hosted a series of dinners for backbench MPs, to build a cohort of parliamentary champions who understand the advantages of resource efficiency and the policy changes needed to encourage it.
We produced ‘Beyond the bin’, a dedicated website and briefing, to aid politicians’ understanding of where waste arises in the economy, showing that it is systemic at many levels, not just at the point when something is thrown away.
This followed a series of three short graphic reports which simply presented the evidence for why a circular economy is good for people, businesses and the UK as a whole.
“We welcome Green Alliance’s policy insight on circular economy and look forward to utilising their research in preparation for our next Environmental Improvement Programme progress report.”
Darren Watson, Office for Environmental Protection, on our circular economy graphic reports


Mission critical
Critical minerals, such as rare earth metals, are vital for green infrastructure like batteries and wind turbines. We worked with Zero Waste Scotland on the report Mission critical (August 2024) and co-ordinated an letter from 29 businesses and associations to the prime minister, highlighting the importance of a clear strategy to protect UK resilience and prevent the damaging impacts of extraction, by preserving, reusing and recycling essential resources. Since, the government has committed to an updated critical minerals strategy, and we have given advice on how it can incorporate circular economy principles and promote demand reduction.
Greening the economy

Image from The nature of our economy: implementing the Dasgupta Review
April 2025
Green policies help to solve fundamental economic challenges. Green investment raises productivity and will lead to high quality jobs in new industries. A green industrial strategy brings a new sense of national purpose and pride. More investment in skills is also needed as low carbon industries and infrastructure are developed. We show how these benefits can be maximised and distributed fairly across the country, to reinforce public support for ambitious environmental action.
Promoting a green skills strategy
Green Alliance’s research on the positive impact of green growth on the labour market, and particularly on the need for a clear strategy to skill up the workforce, has been of ongoing interest to the government and companies. We were in regular demand to speak on this during the year and our executive director, Shaun Spiers was invited to join a government taskforce on green skills.

Nature and the economy
Our two year project on implementing the Dasgupta review on the economics of biodiversity, which was published in 2021 but then not acted on by the Treasury, concluded with a report and event in April 2025. Over the course of this research, we spoke to over 65 experts, including many close to the review.
“Your report is quite simply terrific, far better than anything I could have produced. Many, many thanks for producing it.”
Professor Partha Dasgupta
In our conclusions, we provided a policy roadmap on how to price the value of nature to the economy into the system, to preserve nature as a vital economic asset underlying future prosperity. As we hoped, this stimulated renewed interest in Professor Dasgupta’s findings from the government, business, the City, the Office for National Statistics, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and parliament.

“We ensured environmental priorities were raised early in the government’s green finance and investment strategy planning.”
The case for green economic investment
With the economy struggling and some calling for a roll back in green investment, we continued to point to the reasons why this is regressive and highlight why it matters to wider economic success. Ahead of the autumn spending review and the chancellor’s 2025 spring statement, we made the argument to ministers and civil servants across departments. At the request of the OBR, we hosted seminars exploring the financial risks of climate and environmental breakdown and the case for fiscal reform. This opened up new dialogue between Treasury officials and environmental NGOs. We are the only green organisation the OBR engaged with on its Fiscal risks and sustainability reports.
Following publication of the government’s industrial strategy green paper, we submitted a detailed response in which we advocated alignment between the UK’s net zero and nature recovery goals, to shape a modern green economy. We were one of several organisations calling for a change to the fiscal rules and were pleased when the Treasury changed to a measure of public debt that allowed for more investment.
National Wealth Fund
We briefed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Treasury on the importance of integrating nature into their plans for the National Wealth Fund (formerly the UK Infrastructure Bank). We also ensured environmental priorities were raised early in the government’s green finance and investment strategy planning.
Low carbon future

Image from Climate and health: protecting people in the UK from extreme heat
(With the Wellcome Trust)
April 2025

Every part of the UK economy must contribute to ending the fossil fuel era. Working with leading businesses and NGOs, we are targeting those sectors that need to modernise for a greener future, like transport, buildings and heavy industry. We advocate policies that will speed up the transition and ensure everyone can benefit sooner.
Mapping the route to low carbon travel
In February 2024, we mapped a UK pathway to zero emission aviation, summarising this complex issue and aiming to influence industry planners and government investors to see a low carbon future for the industry, as well as inform MPs on the topic.
Our analysis and work making the case for a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate was instrumental in its introduction early in 2024, and it is now one of the government’s most powerful climate policies. It requires the automotive industry to sell an increasing proportion of new electric vehicles every year to combat climate change and air pollution and lower the overall cost of driving. This year, we continued to provide fact checks for parliamentarians and civil servants on the importance of maintaining this mandate, in the face of industry scare stories and the threat of trade tariffs from the US.
Switching to cleaner forms of transport is essential to meet the government’s legal carbon reduction targets, but policy is falling short to meet the UK’s climate commitments. This
is still the sector with the highest carbon emissions in the UK. Our report Mind the gap, in January 2025, outlined interventions needed to put the country on track towards a clean, low carbon transport system. It was the basis for engagement with civil servants at the Department for Transport and the Environmental Audit Committee.
“We host a regular roundtable of environmental NGOs to align on transport strategy.”

We host a regular roundtable of environmental NGOs to align on transport strategy and advocacy and increase impact on major issues. During the year, a subgroup focused on planning reforms and the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, agreeing shared positions and responses.
How to modernise public transport
Ahead of a new integrated national transport strategy, in early 2025 we joined with Trainline and Cardiff University to model national rail network and travel patterns. Comparing rail to private car journeys, we demonstrated, through mapping and Trainline’s data, how better connections, affordability and integration with other transport would encourage more people to use trains, reducing congestion, pollution and climate impacts. The Guardian endorsed the report’s findings in an editorial.
“Our report A bus revolution outlined a costed five year plan for better services.”

Buses are the most used form of transport across the country and are low cost and low carbon. But service provision and passenger numbers have declined. In May 2024, our report A bus revolution outlined a costed five year plan for better services.
During the year, we co-ordinated NGO voices around new bus and rail legislation and briefed peers around the Bus Services Bill, to raise its environmental and social ambitions. We were pleased to secure an amendment ensuring there will be a nationwide deadline for zero emission buses.
Spotlight on climate change adaptation
We launched a new task force in June 2024 with seven leading businesses (see page 89 for members) on priorities for UK climate adaptation, and the association IEMA subsequently joined. This is a neglected area of climate policy with severe implications for the economy and communities. Focused on increasing government action, we held meetings with the OBR, the Treasury, Defra and adaptation specialists from the Climate Change Committee. We provided briefings relevant to the government’s five missions and set ‘adaptation tests’ for the comprehensive spending review, as well as a response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s January 2025 inquiry on flooding in England.
“I greatly appreciate the reports Green Alliance has published on the UK chemical sector. They make a complex problem digestible and bring much needed attention to our industry.”
Richard Woolley, head of energy and climate change, Chemical Industries Association
With the Wellcome Trust, we co-hosted a major conference in October 2024 exploring the intersections of health and climate policy. Deputy Mayor of London Mete Coban spoke about progress and challenges in the capital, and we presented the findings of two pieces of work exploring how the UK should do more to adapt and protect against the harmful physical and mental health impacts of extreme weather.

Action on methane
Methane, a greenhouse gas over 80 times more potent than CO2 over the short term, is a major driver of climate change. Despite this, it has not had the attention it should, grouped with other greenhouse gases in climate policy. But action on methane is urgent and over the past two years we have been working to highlight this.
Our advocacy influenced the energy secretary Ed Miliband to state the importance of methane at the COP29 global climate summit in November 2024, where he described it as “the sprint” as opposed to action on CO2 being a marathon. Since, we have advocated strongly for a National Methane Action Plan.
One solution, methane suppressants in cattle feed, became a social media controversy in early 2025 due to
misinformation, highlighting the importance of good communication around necessary measures. We provided fact checking on this issue.
Our evidence on methane to the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee was quoted 86 times in the committee’s report Methane: keep up the momentum, published in December 2024.

Cutting carbon in industry
Decarbonising industry and accelerating a fair transition to new technologies will be vital to meet the UK’s climate goals. Over the year, we mapped out how to phase out fossil fuels in industrial processes, tackle policy barriers and support communities through the changes. This included well received publications and briefings on industrial electrification, power purchase agreements and emissions reduction in the steel, cement and chemicals sectors. Our concerns about the need to futureproof heavy industries have been reflected in the government’s new industrial strategy and the need for electrification has become much more dominant in the conversation, due in part to our work.
Clean power
We influenced government thinking on the move to low carbon power through our detailed analyses, including around the form of the government’s Clean Power Mission, with a task force designed to drive rapid deployment and deliver cheaper, greener electricity by 2030. We led the argument that a task force of this nature would be the best way to ensure innovation and accelerate the change.
Natural environment

Image from Farming at a crossroads
February 2025

Better land use and management is needed to reverse the alarming decline in nature and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and emissions from agriculture remain stubbornly high. This harms economic prospects, including farming, and diminishes all our lives, as once common species vanish. But, with the right conditions, nature can recover. We are working on the political routes to make sure this happens.
Support for farming and the environment
During the general election campaign, we helped to secure continued commitment from the Labour Party to the three Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes which replaced EU agricultural policy post-Brexit. We worked successfully, alongside farming and environmental organisations, to avoid cuts in the October budget to the funding for these schemes, and for the continuation of the Nature for Climate fund supporting farmers to restore peat and plant trees. Ahead of the 2025 spending review, we continued making the case for why this is important to the
“The challenge of mixing ecologically sound land use with food production continues both to trouble and elude governments. This report is a welcome reminder of how UK environmental champions recognise the real advantages from getting the practicalities sorted out. Everyone –farmers, industry, the public, health services –would benefit if policy makers rose to the challenge.”
Tim Lang, professor, City University London, on A new land dividend (May 2024)
government’s agenda, including through a commissioned essay ‘People first: selling nature to Labour’ (January 2025), from the nature and climate expert and former shadow Defra policy adviser, Adam Dyster.
Following our calls for a long term vision for farming, we welcomed the government’s announcement in January 2025 of a new 25 year roadmap for agriculture. We subsequently participated in departmental workshops informing the roadmap’s development. We also used a joint briefing with the Nature Friendly Farming Network, ‘An introduction to food and farming’ (November 2024), to engage new MPs and build interest in the topic.
A new land dividend
There is not enough land to satisfy current patterns of consumption without accelerating climate and nature breakdown. But increasing consumption of alternative proteins could be game changing as it would mean using far less land. It would also be an economic opportunity as a growing industry. In a major collaboration with the Good Food Institute we reported, in A new land dividend (May 2024), on the impacts alternative proteins could have on land use in ten European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the UK. We identified supportive policy needed to develop the industry further and ensure farmers also reap the benefits of the transition.
Recommendations on land use
In February 2025, we published Farming at a crossroads, based on our conversations with farmers across the UK. Including case studies and recommendations for future policy, it had a positive reception from both the farming sector and the government. Environment minister Daniel Zeichner MP, spoke at the launch and we engaged further with him on our recommendations. The government’s land use consultation early in 2025 reflected these and acknowledged the importance of land use change to meet climate and nature goals. As a regular commentator on this topic, we have emphasised the need for a stronger
“The reports from Green Alliance have been totally invaluable. They are some of the highest quality work that I have read in these areas.”
Dr Thomas ManandharRichardson, director of research, Bryant Research, on Green Alliance’s farming and food reports

Felce,
framework for nature targets to be met, including in ministerial meetings. We also continued to defend the growth in solar farms against food security concerns, demonstrating that climate change is the far greater threat in ‘Why new solar farms boost UK food security’ (August 2024).
Influencing water policy
A Green Alliance briefing in November 2024 raised the need for more urgent action on agricultural water pollution, responsible for over half of all water pollution. It was read by Number 10, Defra and the Office for Environmental Protection and we were subsequently invited to advise on the Environment Improvement Plan’s water targets.
Regenerative agriculture project with the University of Oxford
In September 2024, we began a year long collaboration with TABLE, a University of Oxford research platform, to explore how regenerative agriculture can contribute to a just future for farming. Through interviews, surveys and workshops, we aim to inform future policy with the insights gained.
Communications in 2024-25
Media
3,807 mentions across all media
489 in national and top regional media outlets
309 mentions in national broadcast media
Parliamentary profile
14 mentions in Hansard
5 number of times Green Alliance gave evidence at select committees
86 number of times our evidence was quoted in the House of Lords’ Environment and Climate Change Committee’s report on methane in December 2024
Social media and published outputs
25% more published policy reports than 2023-24
33% more published briefings than 2023-24
76% increase in engagement on X
8,158 podcast downloads 22% increase in LinkedIn followers
4,564 new followers on Bluesky (launched in 2024)
114 blogs with 61,733 views
Events
26 events. 12 in-person, 14 online
3,178 attendees (20% more than 2023-24)
406 attendees at our 45th anniversary celebration and reception.
Speakers at our events in 2024-25 included: Environment Secretary Steve Reed MP; health campaigner and broadcater Dr Guddi Singh; David Buttress, OVO CEO; Lord Mayor of London; RSPB CEO Becky Speight; BBC presenter Tom Heap; head of the Clean Power Mission Chris Stark; Environment Minister Mary Creagh MP, Alistair Strathern MP; Deputy Mayor of London Mete Coban; author Guy Shrubsole; Helen Hayes MP; Daniel Zeichner MP; author and activist Dr Mya-Rose Craig; Dame Fiona Reynolds and former Green Party leader and MP Caroline Lucas
3/ Equity, diversity and inclusion
We made further progress on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) this year led by an EDI committee comprising staff across the organisation. Their responsibility includes driving action to meet five key objectives:
1. Ensuring that, as well as the environment, people and social justice considerations are embedded in Green Alliance’s policy thinking, design and advocacy.
2. Increasing the diversity of the board and staff, especially regarding socioeconomic and ethnic diversity.
3. Building a more inclusive culture at Green Alliance. We define this as welcoming people from all backgrounds, experiences, identities and characteristics, so our employees know that their differences are valued.
4. Listening to a diverse range of people and enabling a greater platform for underrepresented and lesser heard voices across our internal and external work.
5. Playing an active and collaborative role in the think tank and environment sectors to increase diversity and inclusion.
In 2024-25, we recruited a new head of social impact , Cath Smith, to help ensure that our work considers all groups across society.
We participated in several external EDI initiatives, including the RACE Report 2024 and Race Equality Week. Our team have engaged in training across different EDI areas, including active bystander training, cultural competency training, LGBTQIA+, race equality and menopause awareness workshops.
Following a review of our longstanding graduate scheme, in 2024 we developed a new partnership with the organisation Creative Access to deliver a new Positive Action Trainee Scheme. This resulted in three, 12 month, paid traineeships for individuals at an early stage in their careers, enabling them to learn about working in our political leadership, policy development and operations teams.
Looking ahead, our plans include:
Producing the new Green Alliance strategy (2025-30), within which EDI will be central, rather than a standalone strategy.
Ensuring a warm welcome and sufficient support for new starters of all backgrounds.
Providing options for people of colour in the team to be coached by a person of colour with specialist experience in supporting people of colour in the workplace.
Exploring how socioeconomic factors play a part in our work and across our team.
Rolling out new recruitment policies and processes and widening our reach through EDI focused events and outreach activity.
Through these activities and more, we will build the connection between social and environmental justice and our policy work
4/ Our plans 2025-26
Having consulted widely with partners, funders and our network, a new five year strategy will be published in September 2025. This has included a comprehensive assessment of the context in which we are working and our unique role in environmental politics. The themes outlined below align with the present structure of our work programme and the work described is underway. Under the new strategy, this and all new work will be organised around priorities set for the next five years.
Political leadership
We will strengthen relationships with secretaries of state, ministers and advisers in the Labour government, and expand our network across sectors.
As secretariat of the Environment APPG, we will build and amplify support for ambitious environmental action amongst MPs and peers from all major parties, making clear that addressing the climate and nature crisis must be a non-partisan issue.
Through our Impact 2025 initiative, Project Boost and other collaborations, we will bring together partners from the environment sector and beyond to ensure we boost influence and reach on environmental priorities in Westminster.
We will continue our work with opposition parties to develop strong positions on environmental issues, to apply pressure on the government to increase its ambition.
Low carbon future
On transport, we will continue to bring civil society groups together to seek consensus and ensure consistent messaging to government, look at how the UK can maintain a leadership role in vehicle and aircraft manufacturing through the green transition and analyse options to decarbonise HGVs.
We will work on ways to bring down power costs at the system and household level, including modelling the benefits and costs of adopting a social energy tariff.
We will continue to push the government to show global leadership on methane, especially at the COP30 climate summit, by creating a national action plan.
On industrial decarbonisation, we will focus on policies that appeal to the government’s priorities, retain industry ensure fairness for communities.
Our Adaptation Task Force will continue to work on increasing government ambitions around climate change adaptation.
Resources
We will work to ensure a highly ambitious government Circular Economy Strategy in 2025, aligned with the industrial strategy and an updated critical minerals strategy.
We will continue to build a new generation of parliamentary champions on UK resource priorities, particularly backbench MPs who can help hold the government to account and push for delivery.
We are exploring a new project on overconsumption and inequality, considering the links and how both of these challenges can be tackled together.
In new work for our Circular Economy Task Force, we will demonstrate how the circular economy contributes to a futureproof, resilient economy, including case studies of successful, large scale circular businesses, macroeconomic analysis and a new exploration of public attitudes.
Greening economy
We will report on the car industry’s transition to electric vehicles and how to support it, to preserve the UK sector and protect jobs.
We will advocate for green investment in the government’s spending and industrial strategy plans.
Working with the OBR, we will provide advice on the climate and nature sections of its 2025 Fiscal risks and sustainability report.
Following our work on green skills and job training, we will propose how to increase young people’s engagement in green careers.
We will continue to promote the findings of the Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity, with a focus on regional growth strategies.
Natural environment
We will work across sectors to secure the national food strategy delivers policies to support a shift to both healthier and more sustainable diets in the UK.
To support farmers to reduce the climate impacts of agriculture and restore nature on farmland, we will advocate policies including through an ambitious land use framework and farming roadmap.
We will build momentum for these farming policies by shedding light to how they affect people, making recommendations that deliver for both people and the environment.
5/ Financial review
Treasurer’s report
This year, we introduced a new finance and project management system, following the recommendations of a finance review in 2023. The system went live in January 2025 with a smooth transition.
Integration of finance and project management is increasing efficiency and providing valuable new insights for capacity management and project planning. We are grateful to our head of finance, Kim Rennie and head of people and programmes, Claire Somerville, for their skilled leadership of this project, and to the staff team for willingly engaging with the process. We spent £69k of the designated project fund set aside for this purpose and will spend the remaining £11k in 2025-26 on further development of the system.
We were expecting to move office this year but, due to delay in the building refurbishment plans, we are staying at Millbank Tower until December 2026. We have appointed an agent to find us new offices after then and will maintain the designated building fund in preparation for that move.
We have had another successful fundraising year and are grateful to both old and new funders for their support. Our income in 2024-25 was £3.7m, significantly over our fundraising target of £2.8m. This year, we spent £148k of the £400k in a designated ‘impact and innovation fund’, which has supported projects such as our Adaptation Task Force, recruiting the new post of head of social impact, increasing advocacy on natural environment and chemicals decarbonisation projects. This fund enabled us to work reactively on key political moments such as the spending review, the industrial strategy, and on the defence, green growth, clean power and climate agendas. The remainder of the fund will be carried forward to 2025-26.
We are aware that the context for fundraising over the next couple of years will be challenging, with some funders changing their focus and an expected decrease in climate and nature philanthropy due to the wider global context. Our new strategy, to be published in autumn 2025, will present a compelling and focused proposition for our
funding into the future. The senior management team will work closely with senior staff to identify a work programme that draws on Green Alliance’s unique skills. We will carefully monitor our going concern analysis throughout the year.
Our income from corporate funders remained consistent this year at £504k (2024: £489k). Income from NGOs has fallen to £163k (2024: £465k), this reflects the ebb and flow of the collaborative and convening nature of our work. Trusts and foundations once again provided most of our income, at 79.4 per cent (2024: 67 per cent), and income from individuals has remained constant at two per cent (2024: three per cent). Our trust and foundation sources continue to be diverse, and we are not dependent on any one funder for more than 30 per cent of our income.
Expenditure for the year was £3.5m (2024: £2.89m), generating a surplus of £184k (2024: £295k). This included an increase in our restricted funds, by £41k, and a £143k contribution to unrestricted funds.
Reserves
Our reserves policy sets a target of 15 per cent of budgeted income to be held in unrestricted reserves to protect the organisation from unexpected financial risk and to ensure we are able to maintain operations or wind up projects as a result of a loss of income or failure to secure funds. We reviewed our reserves policy in 2025 and will undertake a more detailed analysis of the reserves needed in the future alongside the draft budget in December 2025.
We end the year with £550k in our general fund. We have spent most of the system’s fund on implementing the new finance and project management systems, and retain £11k to be spent on further development in 2025-26. We added a further £400k from our unrestricted income to the balance of our ‘impact and innovation fund’, leaving us with £652k to spend under this fund in 2025-26 and beyond. We retain the £150k building fund from the previous year.
Total funds at 31 March 2025 (note 12 in the financial statements) were £2.22m (2024: £2.04m) comprising of
£731k in restricted funds (2024: £690k) and £1,495k in unrestricted funds (2024: £1,352k).
The free reserves of the charity, being the general unrestricted fund less the net book value of tangible fixed assets, at 31 March 2025, were £540k. This represents 15.2% of our target income for 2025/26, marginally above the target in the reserves policy.
Investments
At the present time, the trustees’ policy is to maintain all cash balances on deposit, earning a market rate of interest. Green Alliance held no other shares or investments in the financial year. We will agree a new investment policy in 2025.
Going concern
The board of trustees has confidence in Green Alliance’s business model of closely aligning income and costs in an agile manner. Trustees have reviewed fundraising plans and have analysed cash flow forecasts through to September 2026. Trustees believe that the organisation has the ability to manage any operational or financial risks and to respond in a dynamic way. On that basis, the board considers there is a strong expectation that Green Alliance will continue to operate in the foreseeable future. For this reason the board continues to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of these financial statements.
Fundraising disclosure
Green Alliance does not employ any third parties to undertake fundraising activity on its behalf. Fundraising is led by the senior management team with support from the staff. Most of Green Alliance’s income comes from trusts, foundations, NGOs and businesses.
We have a membership scheme for individuals, with over 300 members, who contribute to the organisation through a regular subscription. We ask for new members’ consent and
preferred method of contact and respect the wishes of those who choose not to be contacted. We have not undertaken any fundraising activity involving direct mail or telephoning supporters. We did not receive any complaints about our fundraising activity in the year.
In line with 2016 fundraising regulations, we have written guidance for staff who are concerned about the fundraising practices of Green Alliance and to ensure that they are protected from discrimination in any cases of whistleblowing.

Paul Lambert FCA Treasurer
The Green Alliance Trust
Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2025 (incorporating the income and expenditure account)
The
Balance sheet at 31 March 2025
2,041,539
The full financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the trustees on 16 September 2025 and signed on their behalf by

Chair Treasurer


6/Thanks We are grateful to all the individuals and organisations that supported our work in 2024-25
Funders
“The Samworth Foundation is proud to support Green Alliance’s work shaping the UK environmental agenda, which consistently delivers real impacts. Together, we are driving forward change to safeguard our natural world.”
Nathalie
Walters, director, Samworth Foundation
£1,000-£5,000
Friends of the Earth
Marine Conservation Society
CPRE
E3G
The Nature Conservancy UK
Tinsley Charitable Trust
Pernod Ricard
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Oceana UK
Chester Zoo
Orsted Power (UK) Limited
AECOM
Northumbrian Water
SSE
Heineken UK Ltd
Johnson Matthey
The Canal and River Trust
£5,001-£10,000
Aviva Central Services UK Ltd
SSE plc
UK Power Networks Operations Ltd
Wessex Water
Zurich Insurance Company Limited
National Grid Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Uplift (c/o Social Change Nest)
University of Oxford
Greenpeace Ltd Foundation for Integrated Transport
£10,001-£20,000
The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN)
The Waste and Resources Action Programme
WWF-UK
Kingfisher Plc
BASF plc
NPT Transatlantic
The Tregoning Trust
Pickwell Foundation
Tilt Collective (via Windward Fund)
£20,000-£30,000
Woodland Trust
Frederick Mulder
Foundation
The Cooperative Group
RSPB
National Trust
Associated British Ports
The Wildlife Trusts
£30,000-£40,000
John Ellerman Foundation
Schroder Foundation
Air Products PLC
Humane America
Zero Waste Scotland
SUEZ Recycling & Recovery
UK
OVO Energy Ltd
£40,001-£50,000
Wellcome Trust Ltd
Waterloo Foundation
Trainline.com Ltd
£50,001-£75,000
All Party Parliamentary Group on the Environment
Virgin Media Time After Time Fund
£75,001-£100,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Samworth Foundation
Energy Transition Fund (via Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors)
Sunrise Project
£100,001-£150,000
Network for Social Change
Lund Trust
£150,001-£200,000
Global Methane Hub (via the Windward Fund)
Partners for a New Economy (via the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation)
£200,001-£250,000
Changing Markets Foundation
£250,001 to £300,000
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (via the European Climate Foundation)
£300,001-£350,000
Montpelier Foundation
£650,001 to £700,000
European Climate Foundation
For details about supporting Green Alliance as a funder, partner or member, please contact: Charlotte McMenamin-Walshe cmcmenamin-walshe@greenalliance.org.uk
Partnerships and alliances
Business circle
Our Business Circle is a forum for companies demonstrating environmental leadership as a business priority.






Impact 2025
With this collaboration we are bringing together the UK’s largest environmental charities on a regular basis until January 2026 to develop strategies for greater collective political impact.


















Circular Economy Task Force
This longstanding influential business consortium has pioneered new approaches to resources policy since 2012 and convenes stakeholders from government, civil society and industry to develop and test circular economy ideas. The current chair is Colin Church, chief executive of IOM3 who joined the Green Alliance board in September 2025.
Adaptation Taskforce
Our Adaptation Task Force brings together leading businesses to increase ambition on climate adaptation policy and promote integrated solutions to improve UK climate resilience. This initiative was launched in 2024.
Warm This Winter
Warm This Winter was part of Green Alliance’s broader cross sector convening work around the UK energy system and cost of living crisis, from 2022 until early 2025. Green Alliance, Uplift and the End Fuel Poverty Coalition were the secretariat behind the campaign and these were the organisations involved.
Strategic partnerships

The Conduit is a members’ club bringing people together who are passionate about creating solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. Green Alliance works with The Conduit on its convening



















work to engage in learning, build meaningful connections and break silos, to more effectively tackle the environmental and social problems of the 21st century.



We work with Mobius to catalyse support for dietary change.
Members
Thanks to our individual members who include environmental, business and government experts active in our network, and those in other spheres who support our work.
Tim Cordy
Martin Couchman
OBE
Paul Court
Kate Davies
Hannah Dick
Philip Douglas
Julie Doyle
Stephanie Draper
Jane Durney
Jack Easton
Paul Ekins
Sara Eppel
Louise Every
Richard Eyre
This list of members was correct at September 2025.
John Adams
Syed Ahmed
Victor Anderson
Frederick Appleton
Tim Ash Vie
Anne Ashe
John Ashton
Dr Robert Atkinson
Alison Barnes
Phil Barton
Toby Belsom
Terence Bendixson
David Bent
Duncan Brack
Tim Branton
Tom Burke CBE
Richard Burnett-Hall
Kate Burningham
Sarah Burton
Tony Burton
Danielle Byrne
Alison Cairns
Lord Cameron of Dillington
Mark Campanale
Rachel Cary
Giles Chitty
Ian Christie
Chris Church
Eddington Clark
Roger Clarke
Rob Cooke
Bill Eyres
Malcolm Fergusson
Tim Foxon
Justin French-Brooks
William Gillis
Matthew Gorman
Dr Tony Grayling
Prof Michael Grubb
Nigel Haigh OBE
Sally Hamwee
Sir Peter Harrop
Dr Paul Hatchwell
Dirk Hazell
Barbara Herridge
Joan Herrmann
Hannah Hislop
Paula Hollings
Stuart Housden
Rupert Howes
Rob ert Hull
Merlin Hyman
Michael Jacobs
Prof Nicholas Jenkins
Stanley Johnson
Claire Jones
Prof Andrew Jordan
Angela King
Jean Lambert
Paul Lambert
Lucinda Langton
Dr Paul Leinster OBE
Simon Lyster
Ian MacArthur
Eleanor Mackay
Dr Tom Macmillan
Mark Mansley
Ed Mayo
Robert McCracken KC
Duncan McLaren
Graham McMillan
Paul Meins
Charles Millar
Catherine Mitchell
Peter Mitchell
Prof John Murlis
Dr Elizabeth Ness
Dinah Nichols
Adam Ognall
Tom Oliver
Prof Timothy O’Riordan
Derek Osborn CBE
Sara Parkin
Dr Doug Parr
Anthony Paterson
Nick Perks
Craig Peters
Adrian Phillips CBE
Hazel Phillips
Ben Plowden
Anita Pollack
John Pontin
Dr Andrew Purkis OBE
Denis Pym
Dr Kate Rawles
Dame Fiona Reynolds
DBE
David Richards
Sue Riddlestone
Michael Roberts
Nick Robins
Neil Rotheroe
Phil Rothwell
Prof Stephen Salter
Jenny Saunders
Paul Scott
Juhi Shareef
Yasmin Shariff
Ben Shaw
Dr William Sheate
Richard Shennan
Gareth Simkins
Jonathan Sinclair-
Watson
Neil Sinden
Rita Singh
James Skinner
Stephen Somerville
Naomi Southwell
Shaun Spiers
Martin Spray
Adrian Spurrell
Ben Stafford
Ralph Steadman
Clym Tomas
Stephenson
Neil Stockley
Martin Stott
Daisy Streatfeild
Tracy Sutton
David Symons
Joss Tantram FRSA
Dr Richard Tapper
Clare Taylor
Derek Taylor
William Thicknes
Gillian Thomas
Guy Thompson
Dr Bruce Tofield
Mike Tregent
Richard Usher
Jane Vaus
Andrew Warren
Dr Steve Waygood
Anne Weir
Alan Wheeler
Dr Rowan Whimster
Sheena Will
Prof James Wilsdon
Nicholas Wilson
Sir Graham Wynne
CBE
Baroness Young of Old
Scone
Dimitri Zenghelis
Donor members
Rosemary Boot
Anthony Bourne
DA Brooks
Tony Evans
Stephen Farrant
Ian Hawking
Hywel Lloyd
Jiggy Lloyd
Hien Luong
Peter Madden
Prof Nick Pidgeon
Sir Jonathon Porritt
CBE
Julian Rose
Philip Sellwood
Stephen Shindler
Samantha Simic
Prof Jim Skea
Jane Thornback
Paul Vanston
Dr Emma Woolliams
Life members
David Andrew
Kate Ashbrook
Alison Austin OBE
The Rt Hon the Lord
Barker of Battle
Richard Barnes
Dr Robert Barrington
Katherine and Ben Bell
Dr Robin Bidwell CBE
Bernie Bulkin
James Cameron
Rodney Chase CBE
Ian Christie
Greg Conary
Andrea Cook OBE
Heather Currey
Cathy Debenham
Dr Nick Eyre
Zac Goldsmith
Rory Gordon
Matt Gosden
David Green OBE
Emma Howard Boyd
Aleksander Hughes
Paul Jefferiss
Claire Jones
Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE
Colin Le Duc
Thomas Lingard
Patrick Mahon
Michael Massey
John Midgley
David Nussbaum
Alice Page
Jamie Plotnek
MT Rainey
Matthew Rhodes
Chris Rose
Laura Sandys
Penny Shepherd
Lord Thomas Of Gresford
Dr Tom Tibbits
John Webb
Philip Wolfe MBE
Staff and board
Staff (at September 2025)
Senior management team
Shaun Spiers OBE Executive director
Jenny Baker Operations director
Holly Brazier Tope Deputy director of politics (interim)
Roz Bulleid Research director
Blanche Shackleton Deputy executive director
Chris Venables Director of politics and partnerships (on sabbatical to November 2025)
Sarah Williams Deputy director of strategic partnerships (interim)
Policy and politics team
Ruth Chambers OBE Senior fellow
Libby Peake Senior fellow and head of resource policy
Lydia Collas Head of natural environment
Steve Coulter Head of economy
Nick Davies Head of climate policy
Liam Hardy Head of research (job share)
Heather Plumpton Head of research (job share)
Cath Smith Head of social impact
Johann Beckford Senior policy adviser
Stuart Dossett Senior policy adviser
Sophie O’Connell Senior policy adviser
Lucy Pegg Senior political adviser
Annabel Rice Senior political adviser
Emily Carr Policy adviser
Charles Long Political adviser
Apaar Mangat Political adviser
Nadia Sabania Political adviser
Amira Jamal Policy analyst
Matilda Dunn Policy analyst Communications team
Karen Crane Head of communications
Siri McDonnell Events and engagement manager
Tom Jeffery
Senior press officer
Alice Stafford Communications officer
Chris Clark Communications officer
Holly Nordstrom Events assistant
Operations team
Kim Rennie Head of finance
Claire Somerville Head of programmes and people
Fabiana Ottini Office manager and PA to the executive director
Charlotte McMenaminWalshe Senior partnerships officer
Iruka Egenti HR officer
Laura Godfrey Finance officer
Trainees
Sara Bellar Policy trainee
Alyssa Hua Operations trainee
Partha Mulay Policy trainee
Board
Laura Sandys CBE Chair
Paul Lambert FCA Hon Treasurer
Alison Austin OBE (to September 2024)
David Baldock (to September 2025)
Craig Bennett
Colin Church (from September 2025)
Rita Clifton CBE
Martin Harper (from September 2024)
Benet Northcote
Saima Rasool (from September 2024)
Jane Reeves
Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE (to September 2024)
Anusha Shah
Lamé Verre (from September 2024)
Dhara Vyas
Company registered number 03037633
Charity registered number 1045395
Registered Office
Green Alliance, 18th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP
Secretary
Jenny Baker, operations director
Auditors
Sayer Vincent LLP
Chartered Accountants and Statutory
Auditor, 110 Golden Lane, London,EC1Y 0TG
Bankers
Unity Trust Bank plc, Nine Brindley Place, Birmingham, B1 2HB
Solicitors
Bates Wells, 10 Queen Street Place, London, EC4R 1BE
The charity and company The Green Alliance Trust operates under the working name Green Alliance.
Green Alliance
18th Floor
Millbank Tower
21-24 Millbank
London SW1P 4QP
020 7233 7433
ga@green-alliance.org.uk
www.green-alliance.org.uk
blog: www.greenallianceblog.org.uk