Jean Leston

Jean was responsible for WWF’s recent report Moving On: why flying less means more for business, showing the impact of the recession on business travel and meeting practices amongst FTSE 500 companies. She was also the author of Electric avenues: driving home the case for electric vehicles in the UK which puts forward WWF’s views on the potential for EVs to cut car emissions, encourage the growth of renewables, and reduce UK oil dependency. Together with the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF), Jean has also assessed available UK airport capacity to see if demand by region is compatible with the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendations to keep aviation growth within environmental limits. This work has recently been shared with Government ministers.

Jean is also responsible for the One in Five Challenge, WWF’s guided programme and award scheme to help business and government cut their flights by 20% within 5 years—which has attracted several leading companies as participants. In the first year, Challenge members saved an average of £1 million on avoided flights and reduced their CO2 emissions by 1,000 tonnes.

Jean has a strong interest in sustainable business and has held management positions in marketing, research and journalism with, among others, CapGemini and Taylor Nelson Sofres. She holds an MBA from the London Business School.