Rupert Read

Rupert Read speaker on the environment, climate and societal resilience.

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Professor Rupert Read is an environmental philosopher, speaker, author and co-founder of the Climate Majority Project. He is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia (UEA). A significant commentator on environmental issues, Rupert appears on broadcast platforms such as BBC Newsnight and BBC Question Time, where he has become a respected voice on climate issues. He has delivered keynote speeches at major events, including at COP26, Cambridge University, and he gave the prestigious Ebor Lecture at York St John University, engaging audiences with his new perspectives on climate action and societal transformation.

Rupert is a leading advocate for transformative adaptation, a form of climate action focused on reshaping society to build resilience in response to climate change. Through the Climate Majority Project, which he co-founded in 2023, he works to bring climate action into the mainstream, aiming to unite individuals across political and social divisions. He promotes pragmatic and inclusive approaches to mobilise mass support for change. His public speaking engagements, including his widely viewed lecture This Civilisation is Finished, have inspired audiences worldwide to rethink how communities can prepare for and respond to environmental challenge.

Rupert Read studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford, before completing his doctorate at Princeton University. His early academic work, heavily influenced by Wittgenstein, explored the intersections of language, science, and environmental ethics. While at UEA, Rupert specialised in environmental philosophy, leading research projects on “natural capital” funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and he collaborated with Nassim Nicholas Taleb on the application of the precautionary principle to areas such as genetic modification, climate risk, and innovation in  technology.

Professor Read has consistently sought to bridge the gap between theory and action. Whether speaking at global forums or shaping conversations within the mainstream media, Rupert Read continues to push for transformative change, offering a vision of a resilient and adaptive vision of the future.

“Rupert Reed is a living reminder that ideas matter” Steve Fuller, American social philosopher & author

“Rupert Reed is more than just a brilliant thinker. He is a determined and responsible campaigner for a better country and a better world” George Monbiot, journalist and author