Lord Zac Goldsmith

Zac Goldsmith has been a committed environmentalist throughout his life – as editor of the Ecologist magazine for a decade, as a Member of Parliament for nearly a decade, as a Government Minister, and now as a member of the UK House of Lords.

In 2019, Zac was appointed as a Minister attending Cabinet with portfolios across both the Foreign Office and the Department for Environment. He served until June 2023, when he resigned citing the Government’s increasing apathy in the face of the environmental crisis. As a Minister, his responsibilities included forests, oceans, biodiversity, climate change and the illegal wildlife trade as well as the Pacific region and UK Overseas Territories.

Zac was extensively involved in the delivery of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration at COP26, the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at CBD COP15, and the formation of Global Ocean Alliance of nations committed to increased ocean protection.

As editor of the Ecologist Magazine, he was awarded the Global Green Award for ‘International Environmental Leadership’ by Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2022 Colombian President Ivan Duque awarded Zac the Order of Boyacá for his international environmental leadership, and the Order of the Etoile Équatoriale by Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba in the same year.