Ben Copson
Sustainable Energy Association
Give us a brief description of your background
Having graduated from Cardiff University’s Environmental Geography programme in 2020, I sought to find a job in the sector through the thick of the COVID19 pandemic. After a degrading year and a half, and over 500 applications, I finally landed a rewarding position in the consultancy Gemserv, as a Policy Analyst. Based in their Birmingham office, I transitioned not long after into one of their trade associations, the Sustainable Energy Association, as a Policy Advisor—a more public-affairs-based role—where I work happily and successfully today.
Over years prior, I had been in a number of part-time jobs, from the Wimbledon Tennis Championships to a kids summer camp; all of which have afforded me the time to practice my interpersonal skills, skills in leadership, organisation and management, and much more.
Outside of work, I am an avid runner, cyclist (and swimmer for Ironman’s), hiker and overall outdoors enthusiast. I certainly enjoy my downtime too!
Who/what inspires you?
I take inspiration from everyone I meet and everything I read—we are certainly not short of it in our interconnected day and age.
Through shear will and dedication, however, I am particularly moved by elite athletes, like Eliud Kipchoge, Jan Frodeno, Lionel Sanders, Chris Froome, and others.
Through spoken or written elegance and intellect, I am led by polemicists, like Christopher Hitchens, polymaths/national treasures, like Stephen Fry, novelists, like J.R.R Tolkien, Bill Bryson, Ursula Le Guin, etc.
Through environmental/climate action, research, and leadership, there are too many to name… personally and generally.
What does the word leadership make you think of?
The privileged position and ability to take people and ideas on a journey through inspiration, enablement and empowerment.
How do you feel about taking part in the Future Leaders programme?
Stunned excitement! This is a special opportunity to learn directly from experienced leaders and my fellow FLP5 cohort. The programme is a privilege I don’t take lightly, and I thoroughly look forward to reframing my thinking and advancing my soft and hard skills in leadership (as well as the three-day excursion!).
What do you think are the keys to a sustainable future?
I’m sure they have been mentioned here ad nauseam, but evidence and collaboration.
The baseline for a sustainable future is robust, rigorously tested and proven data, which is used to inform the ‘best’ pathway to remediating climate change. We need to continue our study of climate change and its affects, and more sensibly, calmly and professionally plot out what actions we need to take, by when, to transition our world to a more sustainable one.
Then, as a planet, we need to be joining up our thinking, direction and decision making, providing more equitable solutions for nations unable to transition and invest at the scale of others. As nations, we need to be leading citizens, organisations, and stakeholders in the right, unified direction: meaning coherent leadership and informed action from government’s, which guide individual initiative and delivery. As people, we need to be sharing learning and best practice, learning how to collaborate and do things together better, and leading action. Stephen Fry says it best:
“We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing – an actor, a writer –I am a person who does things – I write, I act – and I never know what I'm going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.”
