Roger Harrabin
Roger Harrabin is one of the media’s most influential voices on the environment, energy and climate change. He is Energy and Environment Analyst for the BBC, where he has broadcast for more than 30 years.
Roger has been a global pioneer in environment reporting. He was founder presenter of the BBC environment programme Costing the Earth and has won many awards for his work in radio and TV.
His quest for impartiality led him to broadcast two three-part series on Radio 4 tackling the risks and uncertainties in climate science and technology.
His reporting on new topics has often been trend-setting he was, for instance, the first mainstream reporter to highlight the central role that energy would play in the environment. He has interviewed many influential figures including Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Ban Ki Moon, Al Gore and Sir David Attenborough.
Roger is a sought-after keynote speaker on environmental issues and climate change. Over his career he has traced the growing influence of environmental issues on domestic and international politics, and on business and society. He has many fascinating and often hilarious stories that work equally well after dinner as during the day.
He is also a highly experienced conference chair and moderator, facilitating events across a range of topics. He is noted for his challenging and humorous style, as well as his depth of knowledge.
Roger’s achievements have been widely recognised. He is an Honorary lifetime fellow of St Catharine’s Cambridge; Associate Fellow, Green College Oxford and Wolfson College, Cambridge and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Cranfield University for work on the environment.
Roger was a great host for the environmentally focused day of Yorkshire Water’s conference on Social Value Through The Six Capitals. Roger bought his years of experience and knowledge to the way he chaired and facilitated the event, gently probing presenters with relevant follow up questions that helped bring out a deeper insight and clarity. Roger was also agile to our needs through the event and bought ‘up to the moment’ topical content.
Roger came to speak at the 2019 RISING Global Peace Forum in Coventry about how the climate change emergency and other environmental issues have severe consequences for peace in many parts of the world. Roger was brilliant to work with, both beforehand and during the event, when he was a huge inspiration to our delegates.
Roger is very adept at explaining complicated issues facing our environment. I have known him for a number of years as the BBC Environment Correspondent during which he chaired a number of my Castle Debates on the environment. The Debates have been enthusiastically attended by audiences very keen to understand the intricacies of environmental, law and science and Roger has been both able to hold the audience and keep their attention and to entertain them at the same time. I very much value working with him.
Roger Harrabin is our moderator of choice. He brings a depth of knowledge to our discussion panels and combines this with an instinctive grasp of what makes a session engaging. Roger brings an energy and spontaneity to the panels he is engaged with and contextualises the discussions within broader societal trends. Best of all, he ensures that the panellists engage with the questions the audience really want answered. He is challenging and highly entertaining. Audiences love him.