Zac Goldsmith has been a committed environmentalist throughout his life – as editor of the Ecologist magazine for a decade, as a Member of Parliament for nearly a decade, as a Government Minister, and now as a member of the UK House of Lords. He has raised significant funds for a wide range of environment and animal welfare causes. 

In 2019, Zac was appointed as a Minister attending Cabinet with portfolios across the Foreign Office, the Department for International Development and the Department for Environment. He served until June 2023, when he resigned citing the Government’s increasing apathy in the face of the environmental crisis. As a Minister, his responsibilities included forests, oceans, biodiversity, climate change and the illegal wildlife trade as well as the Pacific region and UK Overseas Territories. 

Zac led the delivery of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration at COP26 where countries committed to end deforestation this decade, and was extensively involved in securing agreement of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at CBD COP15 which commits the world to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030. He built and co-led the Global Ocean Alliance of nations committed to greatly increase ocean protection.

As editor of the Ecologist Magazine, he was awarded the Global Green Award for ‘International Environmental Leadership’ by Mikhail Gorbachev. 

In 2022 Colombian President Ivan Duque awarded Zac the Order of Boyacá, the highest honour that can be given to a non-Colombian national, for his international environmental leadership. For the same reason Zac was also awarded the Order of the Etoile Équatoriale by Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba.