Green Alliance is a charity and an independent think tank focused on ambitious leadership for the environment in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1979, it works with influential leaders from the NGO, business, and political communities. Its work aims to generate new thinking and dialogue, and has increased political action and support for environmental solutions in the UK. The organisation has three main subject themes on which it conducts analysis and makes policy recommendations. These are: Natural Environment, Low Carbon Energy and Resource Stewardship. Many of Green Alliance's projects involve collaboration with partner businesses and NGOs to ensure policies are both progressive and workable. Since the early 1990s Green Alliance has convened the chief executives of UK's foremost environmental non-governmental organisations in strategic alliances, leading joint advocacy to government on major policy issues. Notable individuals involved in Green Alliance's early years include Maurice Ash, Tim Beaumont and Tom Burke. Green Alliance's staff is based in central London. It has diverse support base, including an individual membership of approximately 400 leading environment professionals, and many partnerships with leading businesses and NGOs. Green Alliance's is a platform for insight and commentary from both staff and external opinion formers on UK environmental policy and politics. It was highly commended in the 'Green and Eco' company category at the UK Blog Awards 2017 and a finalist in the same category in 2016. In 2009 Green Alliance was awarded 'Think Tank of the Year' at the Public Affairs News Awards. In 2016 it was awarded 'Best Environmental Campaign by an NGO' at the Green Ribbon Political Awards for its work in securing the party leaders' climate agreement and received Highly Commended for NGO of the Year at the Business Green Leaders Awards 2016.
History
Green Alliance was founded in March 1979 to inject an 'ecological perspective into the political life of Britain'. Founder Maurice Ash said at the launch "We’re a bunch of optimists. We’re not the doomsters. We believe in the possibilities of the future...” Ever since, Green Alliance has focused on influencing UK government environment policy. Early on, in the 1980s, it elicited the first ever environmental policy statements from all the main UK political parties. It was the first organisation in the UK to raise genetic modification as an environmental issue at the end of the 80s, with its risk analysis which informed new government regulation. In 1998, it hosted the Green Globe Network of foreign policy experts, supported by cross-cutting funding from three government departments: the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. A number of new organisations and initiatives have arisen from Green Alliance's work over the years, including the National Food Alliance, the Environment Agency, the Carbon Trust and the UK's Renewables Obligation. An independent evaluation of Green Alliance's work in 2008 concluded: “Green Alliance’s key strengths are its influence within Westminster and Whitehall and its understanding of the political process. Green Alliance’s relationships with politicians, special advisers and civil servants are its primary strength. It is considered influential within government. Those in government value the ability of Green Alliance to bring them policy positions and mediate relations with NGOs.” Examples of its influence include securing new government strategies on green taxes and microgeneration, increases to landfill tax and more investment in recycling, brokering a historic party leaders’ pledge on climate change, helping to win the argument in government to end unabated coal and proposing a new approach to support for renewables into the 2020s which was adopted by the government. Green Alliance has been active in the talks surrounding Brexit noting that the United Kingdom must negotiate full access to REACH and waste regulation principles. Green Alliance launched a Brexit risk tracker which concluded that the UK chemical industry is at a “high level” of risk because of Brexit. In May 2018 the organization released its findings on plastic waste recycling. Their report promotes mandatory recycled content requirements for all plastic products. In September 2018, Green Alliance launched the TechTask Force aimed at finding technological solutions to help businesses strengthen resource efficiency.
Expert opinion
Green Alliance staff and associates are often quoted as expert sources in national and specialist news outlets such as The Guardian, The Independent, , The Financial Times and The ENDS Report. Subjects which have recently been commented on by Green Alliance experts in major news outlets are; The Green Investment Bank; London's environmental policies and the fifth carbon budget.
