Celebrating one year at OG with our Senior Director for Climate Diplomacy, Emma Fenton

Since joining Opportunity Green a year ago as our Senior Director for Climate Diplomacy, Emma has been instrumental in leading our global advocacy for a just and equitable transition, working in solidarity with climate vulnerable countries. Here they reflect on their first year in the role.

Emma and Aqila at the International Maritime Organization

What drew you to work at OG?

It is a rare privilege to work on something that is as rewarding as it is challenging, and it is even rarer to be able to do that for an ambitious, principled and interdisciplinary organisation that values its staff as much as it values its impact. That is exactly what Opportunity Green is to me and why I was excited to join.

While working at OG, I have found myself in a team of some of the most talented, extraordinary people I have ever worked alongside – and not only that, but people as passionate as I am when it comes to tackling the most intractable challenges that the climate crisis has to offer. The strength of OG lies in our ability to take on those challenges with different approaches, and I’m very excited to have joined to lead the Climate Diplomacy team, amplifying calls for ambition from climate vulnerable countries at a pivotal time in which multilateralism is evolving.

What has changed since you started?

It would be remiss not to mention how much OG has grown even since I started a year ago – not just in terms of the size of the team (up by 10 and counting I think) but also in terms of the breadth of what we do. We’ve expanded from shipping and aviation into other essential and high emitting sectors – such as steel – as well as transformed how we approach our work. The growth of the analytics team has meant that we can target the technical as much as the political in our diplomacy work, which has been invaluable.

The other big change is the world around us. At a time when global ambition on climate is contracting, it has been wonderful to be part of an organisation that is resolute in its aim and unswerving in its progress. It is great to see how OG is increasingly looked to as a voice of optimism and authority in uncertain times.

Emma and Elizabeth Wathuti, Kenyan climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, at COP29

What are you most proud of being involved in since you joined?

The year has passed so quickly it’s hard to single out specific moments, but I think there are two that come to mind in particular.

The first was this April, when the IMO agreed on an historic emissions pricing approach for international shipping by approving a legally binding framework to reduce GHG emissions. This framework sets intensity reduction targets alongside penalties for those who fail to meet them. In the face of extremely turbulent times for international diplomacy, it was absolutely incredible to see countries from around the world stand firm – and amazing to see how valued OG’s expertise and contributions were in that high ambition community.

Whilst the final outcome was perhaps not as effective as we would have liked to see, it was nevertheless a remarkable global achievement and we now look to October this year for opportunities to keep pushing for ambition alongside like-minded countries and other civil society organisations.

The other moment – arguably harder to achieve than global agreement on climate ambition – was the first time our four-legged Chief Security Officer, Roo, actually chose to come up to me to say hi in the office. Life goals.

What inspires you about what you’re working on?

I have been passionate about climate and environmental issues for as long as I can remember, and I’m very lucky to have been able to build a career that allows me to follow that interest. But it is only more recently that I have come to fully understand that climate change is a matter of social justice, human rights and global equity.

For me, being able to achieve climate justice through OG’s climate diplomacy work – by advocating for and with climate vulnerable countries – is incredibly inspiring. Whether it is pushing for the most ambitious outcome possible through the IMO’s Net Zero Framework or supporting climate vulnerable countries to have a voice and a presence at this year’s ICAO Assembly, I can see so clearly the impact and value that OG brings in multilateral spaces and how we can help to shape the future of international climate agreements.