Ashok Sinha
Quick Facts
Biography
Ashok Sinha (born 8 November 1964) is a British environmental campaigner.
Scientific and policy background
Sinha studied physics at the University of Bristol and completed his Ph.D. in renewable energy at Cambridge. Following this he spent a number of years pursuing research into climate change science at Reading University and Imperial College, producing a variety of publications on climate feedback process. He then moved into policy analysis with Forum for the Future working on climate change-renewable energy policy proposals.
Campaigning
Ashok Sinha was one of the group of UK NGO activists who founded the UK Make Poverty History campaign, serving on its governing body (and chairing its Policy & Lobbying Group) which he did whilst he was leading the Jubilee Debt Campaign.
In 2005 he became Director of the newly founded Stop Climate Chaos coalition. The coalition gained a high-profile with its I Count campaign (winner of two International Green Awards, 2007), which was the UK's campaign partner with the UK Live Earth event. Stop Climate Chaos was also instrumental in helping to secure the UK's Climate Change Act, helping to put a brake on the building of new unabated coal-fired power stations, and for delivering The Wave (ahead of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen) which was at the time the biggest single climate change campaign event ever held globally.
Sinha has also been a Board member (and Vice Chair) of Amnesty International UK and of the London Cycling Campaign.
He was listed as one of the UK's top 100 Ethical Heroes by New Consumer magazine in 2007, one of the UK's top 100 environmentalists by the Independent on Sunday in 2008, and has been listed annually as one of London's 1000 most influential people by the Evening Standard between 2012 and 2016.
Current activities
Ashok Sinha is currently Chief Executive of the London Cycling Campaign, leading the sustainable transport charity's successful Love London, Go Dutch and Space for Cycling campaigns.