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Structure
While the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 is funded by members of the Olympic family, it is an independent body with reporting duties only to the Olympic Board and the public.
The independent role of the Commission and its placement within the 2012 Games programme is outlined in Assuring a Legacy: The Sustainable Development Assurance Framework for the London 2012 Games Programme [PDF 320K].
Led by a Chair, with a team of honorary Core and Co-opted Expert Commissioners and Secretariat support, the Commission will undertake timely reviews and report annually.
Its role is unprecedented: it is the first time such a body has been set up in the history of the Games.
Chair
In October 2006
Shaun McCarthy was appointed Chair to lead the commission.
Shaun is a leading advocate of sustainable business practices. He thrives on exploring new ways of working and has made the most of his unique ability to translate what sustainable development means to big business.
Shaun has led some innovative projects during his career including the development of a pioneering e-procurement process prior to the widespread use of the internet; overseeing a leading electricity procurement strategy, and developing a leading edge CO2 strategy.
Having had lengthy careers with Shell UK and BAA, Shaun has more than 20 years experience in commercial business and has spent the past 10 years as a senior manager specialising in sustainable purchasing and construction and assessing the impact of major infrastructure business on climate change.
Shaun is an honorary commissioner with the London Sustainable Development Commission and chaired the LSDC 2012 Sub-Group in 2006. He has been voluntary Chairman of the Strategic Supply Chain Group since 2004 and was a member of the government sponsored Sustainable Procurement Task Force, which was set up in May 2005.
In pursuit of his desire to promote sustainable procurement practices in the UK, Shaun recently founded Action Sustainability. He is one of three directors of this innovative social enterprise which provides a range of services from training to policy advice, to government and major businesses.
Commissioners
The Olympic Board has approved the appointment of Val Chinn, Professor Stuart Green, Andrew Shipley and Dr Robin Stott as Core Commissioners from May 2007 heralding a major milestone in the establishment of the commission and the sustainability and legacy assurance programme for the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
In November 2007 the appointment of a further eight core commissioners was approved.
Gautam Banerji is a qualified Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and an Indian Advocate. He is presently engaged in legal practice as a Principal at a London Chancery Lane Limited Liability Partnership. Gautam started his career as a Lecturer in Delhi University after his first Masters degree in English Literature from St. Stephen’s College Delhi. He subsequently earned an LL.B. degree of Delhi University and then went on to work for UNICEF as a professional for some twelve years, the last five years (1991-1995) were under a complex emergency in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of the first Gulf War. He also holds an M.Sc (Econ) degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, specializing in Social Policy and Planning. He has a deep understanding of sustainable development issues impacting upon vulnerable population groups derived through his professional career with UNICEF. He has a working knowledge of Arabic. He also speaks Japanese, having spent a year at Keio University, Tokyo, studying the language. He is proficient in Bengali, which is his mother tongue and Hindi besides English. (Appointed November 2007)
Emily Brennan is an experienced conservation biologist who has worked for a wide range of conservation organisations including WWF, the Zoological Society of London, and Butterfly Conservation. She is currently Director of Biodiversity Conservation at London Wildlife Trust, chairs the Central Royal Parks Wildlife Group and is a committee member of the Surrey branch of Butterfly Conservation. Emily has been working in the field of nature conservation for many years, and her knowledge and skills are supported by a significant amount of conservation fieldwork, both in the UK and overseas. She has been involved with biodiversity conservation in London for a long time, and is delighted to be given the opportunity to be a Core Commissioner for a Sustainable London 2012.
Emily has a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology, and is also a qualified project manager with significant experience of managing a complex portfolio of conservation projects. She has a long-established reputation in the field of native species conservation, and has a wide range of professional contacts. Much of her current and previous work has focused on urban issues. (Appointed November 2007)
Val Chinn has 25 years professional experience in social and criminal justice and regeneration initiative, and her working life has been focussed on challenging private and public sector investment, to achieve maximum impact and to drive social change. After six years as Chief Executive of The Big Issue in the North and The Big Issue in the North Trust, Val co-founded FSquared Ltd - a business with the central aims of improving the impact of social regeneration projects and achieving high social and commercial outputs. The sustainability consultancy works with private and public sector procurers to make sure projects being delivered have the greatest possible impact on local people and their communities. Val is based in Manchester. (Appointed May 2007)
Professor Stuart Green has nearly 30 years experience as practitioner, researcher and advisor in the construction sector. He is widely known within industry as an independent thinker and is a longstanding advocate of sustainable practices in construction procurement. He has led numerous national research projects aimed at improving industry practice and is well known internationally for his work on value management in multi-stakeholder environments. His research interests extend across a range of issues relating to people and culture in construction, including corporate social responsibility and sustainable supply chain management. He is Director of the Innovative Construction Research Centre (ICRC) at the University of Reading, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). (Appointed May 2007)
Claire Holman is currently Director of Environment and Sustainability at Peter Brett Associates where she leads a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers, environmentalists and public health specialists who work on a wide range of regeneration, waste management and other land development projects. She started her career nearly 30 years ago working for environmental groups but now works largely advising the private sector. She is an air quality specialist with broad knowledge and interests across the sustainability agenda. She has a particular interest in the use of health impact assessment for regeneration and waste management projects. Claire lives near Bristol. (Appointed November 2007)
Andrew Myer is an energy and environmental consultant, of dual UK/Australian nationality. Originally an architect, he has specialised since 1980 in the energy and environmental impacts of building design, construction and use, mainly, during the ’90s, for the Sydney Olympic Games - from initial bid right through to final reviews of environmental performance and ‘lessons learned’, and for both commercial and community clients (particularly Green Games Watch 2000, the government-funded environmental watchdog). Since moving back to London, he has been developing and implementing management and reporting systems/strategies for the UK social housing sector in relation to e.g. affordable warmth and fuel poverty, environmental management, and most recently carbon management. (Appointed November 2007)
Jonathan Pauling has been working on regeneration projects in East London for the past 5 years. As the Strategic Manager of the Newham Food Access Partnership he worked on one of the most developed food poverty projects in London. For the past 2 years he has been working for East Potential – a Stratford based charity that works with homeless young people and delivers regeneration projects across East London and Essex. He has managed a wide range of programmes including arts and culture, sports, and health initiatives. Jonathan is a resident of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. (Appointed November 2007)
Andrew Shipley has a history of promoting inclusive communities and equality for disabled peopled through planning and design. He is a former Chair of the UK Institute of Inclusive Design and is a trustee of the Town and Country Planning Association. Andrew has worked for the Disability Rights Commission and served on a number of government advisory groups including the Business and Community Safety Forum and working groups such as the Building Regulations Advisory Committee and is a member of the RICS Inclusive Environments Consultants Register. He has made a contribution to a range of planning laws and publications. Andrew lives in Bucks. (Appointed May 2007)
Daniel Silverstone is Chief Executive of London Remade. Prior to joining London Remade in 2004, Daniel was chief executive of the Commission for Racial Equality and the London Boroughs Grants. His senior level local government career included chief officer roles in education, diversity and human resources, at the Greater London Council, the Inner London Education Authority and three London boroughs. Daniel leads a business with a £3.2 million turnover and 40 staff to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits and contribute to London's sustainability and climate change agenda. He works to add value at every step of the waste and recycling loop: from collection and disposal to reprocessing and remanufacture. Daniel has worked in complex and highly regulated environments and demonstrated his capacity to turn strategy into operational reality. He is deeply committed to the values of accountability, sustainability and equality. (Appointed November 2007)
Robin Stott a former consultant physician and medical teacher, his expertise is in health. He began work on sustainability issues as Medical Director of Lewisham Hospital and lead the first ever social, environmental and economic audit of a hospital. He was a founding member of the London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC) and has been the sustainability advisor to the Mayor of Lewisham for the past five years. He is trustee of two charities, BioRegional Development Group and Medact. Robin lives in London. (Appointed May 2007)
Neil Taylor has vast experience of developing communities through sports engagement and making the most of regeneration projects. Neil has been with Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme since 1998 and in 2007 was appointed Chief Executive. LOCSP is the leading community sports agency in East London and operates across four Olympic Boroughs. He was instrumental in the development of the £12 million SCORE Complex which opened in 2005 and offers the community of Leyton and neighbouring areas a diverse range of health, sport, physical activity and community services and facilities. Neil also served on the London Sports Board from 2003 to 2006 overseeing and advising on the development of the London Plan for Sport and the roll out of Community Sports Coaches across London. Prior to working at LOCSP he worked at the Sir John Cass’ Foundation. Neil was President of London Guildhall University Students Union in the mid 1990s, served on the Board of Governors for four years and established an independently funded peer support programme. Away from his professional life Neil has lived in three of the Olympic Boroughs over the past sixteen years and has a strong grasp of local issues and concerns with a particular interest in regeneration and development. (Appointed November 2007)
Ben Wilson has thirty years expertise in social housing as a housing manager and chief executive. His special interest has been in the links between housing and socio-economic programmes in the regeneration of housing estates. He has been a Council Member of the National Housing Federation, Chair of the London Housing Federation and represented housing associations on the Housing Forum for London. A resident of Tower Hamlets for 30 years he is a Board member of Poplar HARCA, a housing and regeneration agency based solely in Poplar. He now works as a freelance consultant to the housing sector specialising in organisational strategy and governance. (Appointed November 2007)
Acting in honorary roles, members of the new commission will be either Core Commissioners or Co-opted Expert Commissioners.
Core Commissioners will attend regular meetings and provide overall governance and commentary to the Olympic Board, while Co-opted Expert Commissioners will be part of a register, willing to be on-call to address specific areas and investigations.
Secretariat
The operational assurance work of the commission is carried out by a small team of senior officials.
As directed by the commission, the team engages with the relevant Olympic bodies and other stakeholders, providing critical reporting and secretariat support.
Jane Durney joined the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 as Team Leader in October 2007. She previously worked for BioRegional Development Group for four years where she led development of a concept design for a large-scale zero carbon zero waste (Z-squared) One Planet Living community and helped to establish BioRegional Consulting which provides sustainability consulting services to a range of clients. She also led BioRegional's work on One Planet Olympics.
Jane has an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford where she specialised in energy and water issues. Prior to that she worked for Europe's largest cable TV company in a range of roles and spent 6 years in audit and consulting at KPMG where she qualified as a chartered accountant. She is the Sutton Green Champion for 2007.
Jonathan Turner joined the commission as Senior Assurance Officer in August 2007. He has extensive experience of implementing sustainability solutions in Local Government having previously worked for Greenwich Council for four years and Medway Council for five years before that.
Jonathan’s work at Greenwich and Medway included developing sustainability policies, reviewing and auditing environmental performance, developing Biodiversity Action Plans, implementing environmental management systems and advising the planning departments on the sustainability implications of new developments.
He has a BSc (Hons) Environmental Science from the University of East Anglia and an MSc in Integrated Environmental Control from Nottingham Trent University.
The team is supported by a temporary project officer, Jess Collett.