Who we are

Ralph Ashton
- Convenor and Chair, Terrestrial Carbon Group (terrestrialcarbon.org)
- Senior Policy Fellow and Project Director, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment (heinzctr.org)

Ralph Ashton works on climate change solutions with developing and developed country governments, the private sector, academia, and civil society. He convenes the Terrestrial Carbon Group, comprising specialists from around the world in science, economics, and public policy with expertise in land management, climate change, and markets. The Group came together to develop and promote policy recommendations to unlock the potential of terrestrial carbon (including trees, soil, and peat) in the climate change solution. In July 2008, the Group published "How to Include Terrestrial Carbon in Developing Nations in the Overall Climate Change Solution". Ralph leads the Group’s international advocacy and directs a secretariat supporting the Group with scientific and economic anaylsis. He is a Senior Policy Fellow and Project Director at The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment.

In 2004, Ralph co-led a successful WWF strategy to achieve better environmental management of Tasmania’s terrestrial ecosystems – one of Australia’s most controversial environmental issues. Between late 2004 and 2007, Ralph coordinated WWF’s global response to the Indian Ocean earthquakes and tsunami and co-founded its ongoing Humanitarian Partnerships Program, based in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. During 2008, Ralph was Leader of the Climate Change Program at the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists in Australia, and a Visiting Fellow in the Climate and Energy Program at The Australian National University. In 2009, Ralph was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Environment, Economy, and Society (CEES) at Columbia University.

Ralph grew up in Papua New Guinea, studied in Australia and Germany, and lives in London. He has a background in providing advice on mergers and acquisitions (as both a lawyer and an investment banker).

In June 2009, Ralph was named one of Australia’s “Next Ten” leaders.