Chris Boardman
Former Olympic champion Boardman has been a powerful advocate for sustainable transport, primarily cycling. A policy adviser for British Cycling since 2012, he has since become Greater Manchester’s cycling and walking commissioner, then the area’s first travel commissioner. He has helped create an 1,800-mile cycle and walking network plan, with the intention of getting cars and vehicles off the streets and making active travel accessible. At a national level, Boardman is chair of the board at Sport England and in 2022 became the first national active travel commissioner in government. Since he took the role, Active Travel England has announced £200m of funding for cycling and walking schemes, helping to promote healthy travel, reduce emissions and grow the economy. In July, the 56-year-old cycled 550 miles from Manchester to Paris for the Olympic Games to raise awareness of Sport England’s Going for Green Pledge.
Adrian ‘Ace’ Buchan
Buchan is a professional surfer and passionate climate advocate, playing a significant role in environmental activism. He was a founding board member of an Australian charity dedicated to combating climate change and an ambassador for a non-profit organisation working on climate-crisis mitigation, coastal and marine conservation, and addressing plastic pollution, and advocates for a charity aimed at reducing plastic pollution. When he won $25,000 for ocean advocacy in 2020, he donated the prize money to the Climate Council. The 42-year-old sits on the board at governing body Surfing Australia and in the past year has made significant strides through his leadership at Surfers for Climate.
Lewis Pugh
Pugh, 54, has redefined the boundaries of endurance swimming and helped change the fate of more than two million square kilometres of ocean. In establishing Lewis Pugh Foundation, he set out to ensure at least 30% of our oceans are protected by 2030. As UN Patron of the Oceans, he is a voice for the ocean and has taken his message to the UK Parliament, Kremlin, UN Climate Summits, Westminster Abbey, universities and corporate conferences. Pugh has also given two different Ted Talks and used lengthy swims to highlight issues, including become the first person to swim the length of the Thames – doing so in 2006 to draw attention to the severe drought in England and dangers of global warming. Pugh was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010 and the UN appointed him as its first Patron of the Oceans in 2013.
Alexandra Rickham
Rickman has worked consistently in sport sustainability since retiring from a hugely successful career as a Paralympic sailor. As a consultant, she advised on sustainability strategies for the London 2017 World Para-Athletics and IAAF World Championships and was the in-house support to SailGP, which won the Green Sport Award for Elite Organisation of the Year award in 2022. In January 2024, she became director of sustainability at World Sailing, for whom she had been head of sustainability since 2022
Melissa Wilson
A former rower, after missing out on Great Britain’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics team, Wilson focused on her other driving passion – using the power of athletes to drive climate action. She had taken on a leadership role with Champions for Earth and then co-founded Athletes of the World with former Olympic champion Hannah Mills. The group of like-minded Olympians from around the world have prompted a variety of meaningful campaigns, including Hockey for Climate.