James has a background in environmental science – particularly meteorology, oceanography and hydrology. Early in his career he designed and installed an automatic weather station on the summit of Cairngorm. Through various posts within government and agencies, he became Chief Executive of SEPA, retiring in 2015. For a while he also founded and ran an eco-store/cafe in Glasgow. He has been an honorary professor of Stirling University and has chaired the WWF Scotland advisory council and the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum. James has a long-standing concern about climate change, having been a UK government reviewer of IPCC reports, and served on the Scottish Government’s climate change delivery board. He was Chair of the James Hutton Institute, chaired Climate Ready Clyde, was on the Board of the Green Purposes Company, set up to oversee the privatised UK Green Investment Bank, and has prepared the climate change action plan for the Isle of Man Government. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Development in the University of Strathclyde.
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