Lead author
Richard King
Richard King is a senior research fellow in the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House. His work focuses on the sustainability of – and systemic risks to/from – food systems, agriculture, land use and soft commodity resource trade. His recent projects have included examining cascading climate risks in international food trade; policy design in support of climate-smart and nutrition-secure food systems in southern and eastern Africa; and emerging sustainability issues associated with land-based approaches to negative emissions. He was a lead author on the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) most recent flagship environmental assessment, Global Environment Outlook 6 (GEO-6, 2019).
Prior to joining Chatham House, Richard was deputy head of research at Oxfam GB, where he specialized in food and rural livelihoods, particularly in the contexts of climate change, resource constraints and market volatility.
Co-authors
The report’s co-authors are listed in alphabetical order:
Tim G. Benton
Professor Tim G. Benton leads the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House, and is a research director for the institute. He joined Chatham House in 2016 as a distinguished visiting fellow, at which time he was also dean of strategic research initiatives at the University of Leeds, where he remains a research professor.
From 2011 to 2016 he was the ‘champion’ of the UK’s Global Food Security programme, a multi-agency partnership of public bodies (government departments,
devolved governments and research councils) with an interest in the challenges
around food.
He has worked with many governments around the world, has been a global agenda steward of the World Economic Forum, and is an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land (2019), and the British government’s UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (2017, 2021).
Antony Froggatt
Antony Froggatt joined Chatham House in 2007, and is now deputy director and a senior research fellow in the institute’s Environment and Society Centre. His work focuses on the geopolitical implications of the energy transition and climate change, and he is author or co-author of more than 20 research publications. His most recent research projects are concerned with understanding the energy and climate policy implications of Brexit, and the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine on global environmental and energy security.
Antony has worked as a consultant for 25 years with environmental groups, academics and public bodies in Europe and Asia. In the UK, he has been a special adviser on European energy governance to the House of Lords, and he has given evidence to governments and parliaments across Europe.
Helen Harwatt
Dr Helen Harwatt is a senior research fellow in the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House. Her work focuses on food system pathways that minimize adverse environmental impacts, maximize public health benefits and address ethical issues. She recently contributed to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2022, and was also part of the UN Food Systems Summit leadership team.
Previously, Helen completed a research fellowship at Harvard Law School, estimating the impacts that shifting from animal- to plant-based diets could have on land use, native habitat restoration and climate goals.
Helen was part of numerous multidisciplinary research teams focused on climate policy and food systems, and completed several research fellowships in the UK and the US. Helen also worked as an independent research consultant with NGOs, designing food procurement assessment schemes and tools for the food service sector.
Daniel Quiggin
Dr Daniel Quiggin is a senior research fellow with the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House. He specializes in the analysis of how national and global energy systems will evolve in the period to 2050. His current research and policy engagement focus on negative emissions under net zero policies; climate risks and impacts; the role of demand reduction within the energy transition; and the trade of lithium-ion battery raw materials.
Previously, Daniel worked as a senior policy adviser at the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, on the post-Brexit policy implications for the energy sector’s trade of goods and services. At Investec Asset Management, he helped develop a global renewable energy investment strategy, and modelled the investment potential of various renewable sectors across all major economies.
Laura Wellesley
Laura Wellesley is a senior research fellow in the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House. She focuses on sustainable food systems and systemic risks to food and nutrition security. She has recently written reports for, respectively, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on pathways to incentivize sustainable transitions among agribusinesses, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on priorities for food system transformation in Europe and Central Asia. Laura’s past research has explored ‘chokepoints’ in global food trade, policy pathways to lower meat consumption, and the business case for investment in nutrition.
In 2018, Laura spent six months as a senior policy adviser at UNICEF UK, where she led the organization’s policy research on child health and nutrition, and on the environment. Laura is a member of the London Food Board.
