About CAG

Our team

Philip Matthews BSc (Hons) MSc (Oxon)

Based in Edinburgh

Phil is currently on secondment to the Sustainable Development Commission as their Senior Policy Advisor for Scotland.

Phil's work for CAG has included:

• Prepared the Nottingham Declaration Online Action Pack, a web-based resource supporting local authority action on climate change. The Pack is supported by IDeA, LGA, EST and other government agencies
• Undertook an analysis of how the Scottish Executive is ‘structured and positioned to deliver sustainable development’ for the Scottish Parliament
• For the Scottish Executive undertook an analysis of the validity of projections of future greenhouse gas emissions. This has helped inform the current Scottish Climate Change Programme
• Contributed to two of DEFRA’s cross-regional research projects on climate change adaptation
• Undertook an economic, social and environmental analysis of development options for estates in Harris and on the Isle of Skye

Immediately before joining CAG Phil worked as the principal Sustainable Development and Climate Change Consultant for the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). In this role he was responsible for work on mainstreaming sustainability into the Local Government Improvement Agenda and preparing case studies and guidance for local authorities on local sustainability He also oversaw the establishment of a new Local Sustainable Development Network at the Agency, co-ordinated a review aimed at integrating sustainable development into all aspects of the Agency's work, and managed the Councils for Climate Protection (CCP) Programme.

Prior to that he was Secretary to the Lord Provost's Commission on Sustainable Development for the City of Edinburgh. The Commission was a partnership of the private, public and voluntary sectors, and in this capacity he oversaw the Commission process and wrote the final Commission report, a blueprint for sustainable development in Scotland's capital city. As Co-ordinator of the Scottish Environment Forum he was responsible for building a network of organisations concerned with Agenda 21 and for preparing the Scottish non-governmental submissions to the 1996 and 1997 UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The 1996 UNCSD submission focused on energy and transportation policies, while the 1997 submission was concerned with poverty eradication. Phil is a member of the national Sustainable Development Forum for Scotland.