Rebecca Willis is a professor in energy and climate governance at the
University of Lancaster
, mottoeng = Truth lies open to all
, established =
, endowment = £13.9 million
, budget = £317.9 million
, type = Public
, city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster
, country = England
, coor =
, campus = Bailrigg
, faculty = ...
in the UK. She researches on the environment and sustainability policy.
Career
Willis's career involves the intersection of the environment, especially
climate change and energy
In the 21st century, the earth's climate and its energy policy interact and their relationship is studied and governed by a variety of national and international institutions.
The relationships between energy-resource depletion, climate change, ...
, with politics and public policy. She has been part of the Green Alliance, advised government bodies and became a professor at University of Lancaster in 2019.
Willis spent a short time from 1997 to 1998 as a policy advisor at the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
in Brussels. She was then Head of Policy for the
Green Alliance Green Alliance may refer to:
* Green Alliance (think tank), a British think tank
* Green Alliance (Colombia), a political party
* Green Alliance (Ireland), former name of the Green Party in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
* Green Allian ...
charity until 2001 when she became Director of the organisation until 2004.
She continues to be associated with the charity. In 2009 she introduced the Alliance's Climate Change Leadership Programme for UK politicians.
From 2004 until it was closed in 2011, Willis was vice-chair of the
Sustainable Development Commission
The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) was a non-departmental public body responsible for advising the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, and Northern Ireland Executive on sustainable development.
It was set u ...
, an advisory body to the UK governments.
She also undertook independent consultancy from 2004 until 2017. This included advising the
Lake District National Park on setting up a local low carbon budget and also the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...
and
Co-operatives UK on models for community ownership of energy.
She was a non-academic member of the council of the UK government's
Natural Environment Research Council
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.
History
NERC began in 1965 when several environmental (mainly geog ...
from August 2011 until 2015.
She is one of the expert leads for the
UK Climate Assembly that began in 2019. Her role is to help this
citizens' assembly
A citizens' assembly (also known as citizens' jury or citizens' panel or people's jury or policy jury or citizens' initiative review or consensus conference or citizens' convention) is a body formed from randomly selected citizens to delibera ...
stay focused, accurate and balanced when recommending how the UK can achieve
net zero
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...
carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the
Climate Change Act.
In partial response to the
Covid19 pandemic, the assembly's final report supported economic recovery measures that reduced
greenhouse gases
A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...
and encouraged green changes to lifestyles.
From 2014 Willis has been associated with University of Lancaster and was appointed professor of practice in 2019.
In 2020 she was awarded a
UK Research and Innovation
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Str ...
Future Leaders Fellowshi
Publications
Willis has authored and co-authored books, scientific publications and reports. These include:
* Rebecca Willis (2020) ''Too Hot to Handle? The Democratic Challenge of Climate Change'', Bristol University Press, 162 pp
* Willis, R. (2020) The role of national politicians in global climate governance. ''Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space''. 3 ''3'' 885-903
* Smith, S., Christie, I., Willis, R. (2020) Social tipping intervention strategies for rapid decarbonization need to consider how change happens. ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America''. 117 ''20'' 10629-10630
* Willis, R. How Members of Parliament Understand and Respond to Climate Change. ''The Sociological Review''. 66 ''3'' 475-491
* Willis, R. (2014) ''Paris 2015: Getting a global agreement on climate change.'' Green Alliance.
* Willis, R. (2006) ''Grid 2.0: The Next Generation'' Green Alliance.
Personal life
Willis was born 20 February 1972. She studied BA Social and Policy Sciences at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1994 and then in 1996 took a master's degree at the University of Sussex in Environment, Development and Policy. Her doctoral degree was at University of Lancaster in sociology, awarded in 2018. She is divorced and has two sons.
Awards
In November 2020 she was included in the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
Woman's Hour
''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.
History
Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...
Power list 2020.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Rebecca
Living people
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of Sussex
British charity and campaign group workers
Alumni of Lancaster University
Sustainability advocates
1972 births
British women scientists
UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship