Summary
Neil is responsible for supporting the development of strategic partnerships with policy-makers, business and non-governmental organisations. He has a specific interest in the co-benefits of climate action – how tackling climate change can help create a cleaner, greener, fairer future and how these co-benefits can be better considered in the decision-making process. He was PI on a project funded by the Place-based Climate Action Network that investigated public perceptions of the co-benefits of climate action. The October 2023 report from that work has been followed-up with a public opinion survey published in March 2024. Neil sits on advisory/steering groups for Kingston Council, the Blueprint coalition of local government representatives, researchers, and green groups and the One World Living Programme run by London Councils.
Within Imperial, Neil is part of the interdisciplinary Climate Cares Centre - a group of researchers, designers, policy-experts and educators aiming to understand and support mental health in the current climate and ecological crises. The team published a briefing paper on the impact of climate change on mental health in 2021 that has been covered by news outlets around the world and cited by the World Health Organisation. The team have also led a Wellcome-funded project called Connecting Climate Minds that has convened dialogues between climate change and mental health experts around the world. Within Imperial, Neil also supports the Satellites and Earth Observation group and the Sainsbury's partnership.
Neil joined Imperial in March 2018 having worked for the Sustainability team of the National Union of Students (NUS) for six years. At NUS he managed the Student Switch Off campaign - a pro-environmental behaviour change project he set up in 2006 while undertaking a PhD at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia. The campaign won various awards and reached over a million students in the 12 years that Neil ran it.
Neil has a MSc from UCL in the Public Understanding of Environmental Change and a BA in Geography from the University of Cambridge. He was Managing Editor for the journal Global Environmental Change from 2005-2023 and an Associate Editor since October 2020. Within Imperial he lectures on the MSc Climate Change Management and Finance, BSc Global Health, Global Master of Public Health and the MSc International Health Management courses. Outside of work, Neil is trustee for a charity called the Reach Foundation which is trying to increase opportunities for young people in Feltham and increasingly around other parts of the UK.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Lewis-Brown E, Jennings N, Mills M, et al., 2023, Comparison of carbon management and emissions of universities that did and did not adopt voluntary carbon offsets, Climate Policy, ISSN:1469-3062, Pages:1-17
Croasdale K, Grailey K, Jennings N, et al., 2023, Planning for the perfect storm: perceptions of UK mental health professionals on the increasing impacts of climate change on their service users, The Journal of Climate Change and Health, Vol:13, ISSN:2667-2782, Pages:1-11
Pirkle L, 2022, Current Understanding of the Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health within UK Parliament, Frontiers in Public Health Planetary Health, ISSN:2296-2565
Lawrance E, Jennings N, Kioupi V, et al., 2022, Young person's psychological responses, mental health, and sense of agency for the dual challenges of climate change and a global pandemic in the UK: an online survey study, The Lancet Planetary Health, ISSN:2542-5196
Lawrance EL, Thompson R, Newberry Le Vay J, et al., 2022, The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence, and its Implications, International Review of Psychiatry, Vol:34, ISSN:0954-0261, Pages:443-498
Stevenson S, Collins A, Jennings N, et al., 2021, A hybrid approach to identifying and assessing interactions between climate action (SDG13) policies and a range of SDGs in a UK context, Discover Sustainability, Vol:2, ISSN:2662-9984
Jennings N, Rao M, 2020, Towards a carbon neutral NHS, British Medical Journal, Vol:371, ISSN:0959-535X
Jennings N, Fecht D, De Matteis S, 2020, Mapping the co-benefits of climate change action to issues of public concern in the UK: a narrative review, The Lancet Planetary Health, Vol:4, ISSN:2542-5196, Pages:e424-e433
Reports
Jennings N, Paterson P, Whitmarsh L, et al., 2024, What do the UK public think about the co-benefits that climate action can bring?
Jennings N, Paterson P, 2023, How do UK citizens perceive the co-benefits of climate action?
Baker W, Acha S, Jennings N, et al., 2022, Decarbonisation of buildings: Insights from across Europe, Decarbonisation of buildings: Insights from across Europe, The Grantham Institute
Lawrance E, Thompson R, Fontana G, et al., 2021, The impact of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing: current evidence and implications for policy and practice
Mitchell-Larson E, Green T, Lewis-Brown E, et al., 2021, How can carbon offsetting help UK further and higher education institutions achieve net zero emissions?, COP26 Universities Network Briefin, COP26 Universities Network