Dr Tara Shine
World-leading environmental scientist, climate change negotiator, broadcaster and entrepreneur
For over two decades, Dr Tara Shine has worked as a climate change negotiator for the United Nations, most recently facilitating a dialogue between scientists and policymakers to assess progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement. She has been attending the annual climate summit (COP) since 2003.
Tara chairs the Board of Trustees at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) – one of the world’s leading independent policy and research organisations with a mission to build a fairer more sustainable world.
She also serves on the board of Enterprise Ireland, the Irish state agency that supports businesses in Ireland.
Television
In 2023, Tara presented two separate episodes of the BBC 1 What they really mean for you. In the Electric Cars episode, she questions the cost of electric cars and meets battery experts to understand the global forces that will affect prices for decades to come. In Heat Pumps she investigates the controversial plans to change how we heat our homes and produce electricity.
The year before Tara hosted the prestigious Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on BBC Four.
The BBC’s Expedition Borneo and Tara’s discovery of Nile Crocodiles in West Africa was the subject of an acclaimed BBC 2 Natural World Documentary, Lost Crocodiles of the Pharaohs. Other TV presenting credits include Brave New World with Stephen Hawking.
Closer to home, she also presented A Wild Irish Year and Wild Cities for RTE.
Speaking
Tara is a highly skilled and passionate communicator whose extensive expertise in climate change and sustainability, combined with her positive outlook, actively inspires individuals and organisations to act.
She has advised government bodies, international businesses, academics, schools, and charities around the world. High profile clients include The Mary Robinson Foundation, The Elders, The World Bank Group, The Commonwealth Foundation, Global Citizen, NI Science Festival and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
Business
Tara is co-founder and CEO of Change by Degrees, an award-winning B Corp certified business that builds sustainability skills to empower people to achieve sustainability goals.
Initiatives
Tara is co-founder of Plastic Free Kinsale which has mobilised a town of 5,000 people, and a social media audience of half a million people, to find alternatives to single use plastics.
Book
In her instructive and inspiring book, How to Save Your Planet One Object at A Time, published by Simon & Schuster, Tara reveals the environmental significance of a wide range of commonplace objects, from mobile phones to televisions, from pens and paper to drinking straws and wet wipes. She suggests how to make achievable, affordable, and genuinely effective changes that will improve your life and benefit our planet.
Awards
In 2021, in recognition of her achievements, Tara was named national Irish Businesswoman of the year in the STEM category as well as Cork Businesswoman of the Year.
She is the first woman living in Ireland to be selected for the global leadership programme for women in science, Homeward Bound. As part of this programme, she travelled to Antarctica for a 3-week expedition with 90 women scientists from around the world.
Background
Dr Shine holds a BSc in Environmental Science and a PhD in Geography from Ulster University, Northern Ireland. She was awarded the AIB Graduate of the Year Award by Ulster University in 2020.
Interests
A keen sea swimmer and scuba diver, Tara loves wildlife and the great outdoors.
