41 Facts About Jonathon Porritt

Jonathon Porritt is known for his advocacy of the Green Party of England and Wales.

Jonathon Porritt was born in London, the son of Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt, 11th Governor-General of New Zealand and his second wife, Kathleen Peck.

Lord Jonathon Porritt, who served as a senior officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II, was the bronze medalist in the 1924 Summer Olympics "Chariots of Fire" 100 metres race.

Jonathon Porritt therefore became the 2nd Baronet on Lord Porritt's death on 1 January 1994.

Jonathon Porritt was educated at Wellesley House School, Broadstairs, Kent; Eton College; and Magdalen College, University of Oxford, where he earned a first class degree in modern languages.

Jonathon Porritt started training as a barrister, but switched to teaching English at St Clement Danes Grammar School in Shepherd's Bush, West London, in 1974.

Jonathon Porritt taught there from 1974 to 1984, serving as Head of English from 1980 to 1984.

Jonathon Porritt served as chair of The Ecology Party from 1979 to 1980, and from 1982 to 1984.

Jonathon Porritt presided over changes that made the party much more prominent in elections, himself standing as a parliamentary candidate in general elections in 1979 and 1983.

In 1984, Jonathon Porritt published his first book, Seeing Green: Politics of Ecology Explained.

In 1992 Jonathon Porritt backed the election of Cynog Dafis who was elected to Parliament as the joint Plaid Cymru-Green MP for Ceredigion.

However, in 1994, the regional council of the Green Party suspended Jonathon Porritt for supporting Dafis, and demanded that Dafis stop identifying himself as Green.

Between 1996 and 2009, Jonathon Porritt largely withdrew from active party politics, concentrating instead on non-partisan and activist roles independent of the Green Party.

In March 2009, Jonathon Porritt spoke at the launch of the South West Green Party European Election campaign in Bristol, stating that he had always remained a member of the Green Party and that it was the correct time to reaffirm his support.

Jonathon Porritt noted that many of the policies in the Ecology Party's manifesto of 1979 were now accepted by mainstream political parties, and emphasized the importance of active support.

In 1984 Jonathon Porritt gave up teaching to become Director of Friends of the Earth in Britain, a post he held until 1990.

Jonathon Porritt edited the Friends of the Earth Handbook and encouraged Friends of the Earth to promote practical solutions in its local environmental campaigns, as well as thinking more globally and internationally.

In 2000 Jonathon Porritt was appointed the inaugural Chair of the incoming Labour government's Sustainable Development Commission, set up by prime minister Tony Blair.

Jonathon Porritt was reappointed twice for three-year terms, the last of which began 26 July 2006.

Jonathon Porritt was critical of the Labour government for its environmental record and its pro-nuclear stance, and has campaigned against nuclear power.

Since retiring from the SDC in September 2009, Jonathon Porritt has publicly supported the report's analysis of economic growth as it relates to environmental and human well-being, and the potential for a sustainable economy.

Jonathon Porritt is a patron of the population concern charity Population Matters,.

Jonathon Porritt has stated that population growth is a serious threat to the global environment and that family planning, including both birth control and abortion, is a part of the answer to global warming.

Jonathon Porritt recommends that people should have no more than two children.

Jonathon Porritt has asserted that "promotion of reproductive health is one of the most progressive forms of intervention" that could be used to reduce carbon emissions.

Jonathon Porritt's views are based in part on a 2009 report by Thomas Wire at the London School of Economics, commissioned by Optimum Population Trust.

Jonathon Porritt was criticized for praising China for its 'one child family' policy, which has reduced birth rates but is described as coercive, cruel and causing "immeasurable suffering".

Jonathon Porritt asserts that radical family planning will have little impact unless people limit their consumption.

Jonathon Porritt is an advisor to Project Drawdown, which "maps, measures, models, and describes the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming".

Jonathon Porritt served as chairman of Sustainability South-West, the South-West Round Table for Sustainable Development in England, from 1999 to 2001, and later as president.

Jonathon Porritt served as a trustee of the World Wildlife Fund from 1991 to 2005.

Jonathon Porritt is on the advisory board of BBC Wildlife magazine and actively supports the efforts of experts promoting renewable energy and sustainable development such as Walt Patterson.

Jonathon Porritt is an endorser of the Forests Now Declaration, presented at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting, held in Bali in December 2007.

Jonathon Porritt has strongly criticized proposals by the UK government to sell off Britain's remaining 635,000 acres of public woodlands, and helped to form the organization Our Forests in 2012 to protect and expand public and private woodlands throughout England.

Jonathon Porritt's best-selling book Capitalism: As if the World Matters was originally published in 2005, and revised and republished by Earthscan in September 2007.

In line with this view, Jonathon Porritt has worked to encourage businesses to move towards sustainability.

Jonathon Porritt is a convenor of the cross-party political movement, More United.

Jonathon Porritt's book The World We Made is a futurist account of how the world will have changed by 2050, noted for both its comprehensiveness and optimism.

In 2000, Jonathon Porritt was named a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Jonathon Porritt became an honorary Doctor of Laws of the University of Sussex in 2000.

Jonathon Porritt received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2001.