James Thornton

Biography

James Thornton is a lawyer, environmentalist, Zen Buddhist priest, author, Yale alumnus and founder of Europe’s most innovative environmental group. When aged just 26 James successfully forced the Reagan government to stop companies polluting US rivers. This achievement was one among many during 20 years of successfully taking legal cases against corporations and governments in the US to protect the environment. Among other pioneering work in the US, he worked with Hollywood philanthropists and lawmakers to set up the Los Angeles office of the Natural Resources Defense Councill (NRDC).

In 2008 James brought this pioneering approach to Europe and founded ClientEarth. Since then he and his team of lawyers have brought cases throughout Europe on behalf of their one client: the Earth. They’ve taken the UK government to court and won (three times) over air pollution; prevented the destruction of Europe’s last primeval forest; stopped 30 new mega-polluting coal power plants from opening in Poland; and forced a ban on diesel cars in German cities. James and the new ClientEarth office in Beijing work with China’s Supreme People’s Court to strengthen environmental enforcement.

James has received a lifetime achievement award from the Financial Times, twice been named Leader of the Year by Business Green and named ‘One of ten people who could change the world’ by the New Statesman. Even more than changing our world, for James it is about changing the way we treat it.