Corporate Leaders Group celebrates its 20th anniversary with University of Cambridge college dinner

Members of the three Corporate Leaders Groups (CLG) across the UK, Brussels and South Africa convened to discuss two decades of CLG impact.

On World Environment Day, 5 June, members of the CLGs joined together in Cambridge to celebrate 20 years of policy advocacy, thought leadership and providing business with a strong voice.  

Sir David King, head of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group; Dr Tony Juniper CBE, chair of Natural England; CISL CEO, Lindsay Hooper, and CISL Systems Change Officer, Eliot Whittington, spoke to guests at the event at Downing College on the urgency of the challenge we face.  

Dr Tony and Sir David delivered impassioned addresses on the need for action, with Tony stating: “The CLG has a two-decade proven track record, but now we all need to up the pace.”   

CISL launched the original Corporate Leaders Group in 2005 in response to a call to action from then Prime Minister Tony Blair, which was in turn facilitated by Sir David in his role as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government.  

The Blair government recognised an existing gap in business advocacy and the need for a strong business voice in support of climate action. Most businesses were only just beginning to understand the role they would need to play in addressing sustainability and climate challenges, but a small group came together to lead the way.  

Over the course of the past 20 years, that leadership has made a profound impact. In the UK, the CLG played a key role in advocating for the passing the Climate Change Act and securing the 2050 net zero target by successfully pushing for a legally binding net-zero target in 2019. More recently, CLG UK campaigned for ambitious 2030 and 2035 climate targets and, earlier this year, ensured that the role of business was, for the first time, included in the UK Government's UN submission on meeting these targets. 

In Europe, the CLG has been established itself as a key player in advancing ambitious climate policy on EU level, fiercely backing the EU’s climate target, the recent EU Nature Restoration Law, and other key policies. In recent months, it has coordinated a series of interventions, supported by hundreds of businesses and investors, to call for at least 90 per cent emission reduction by 2040. 

It has also expanded geographically with CLG Africa launching in 2024. Members of its new Corporate Affairs Leadership Programme (CALP), in partnership with the Wits School of Governance in Johannesburg, South Africa, attended Cambridge throughout the week on the latest programme designed to equip corporate affairs and sustainability professionals across the African region to drive market transitions.  

The week’s events also saw the annual CSO Forum, where CLG members convened with global Chief Sustainability Officers, and the quarterly CLG working group meeting at the Entopia Building, CISL’s head office.     

Eliot’s closing remarks at the 20th anniversary celebration highlighted the need for collaboration: “As we’ve seen over the last 20 years, we are capable of more than we think when we unite behind a common cause.”