Mark’s Biography

'Reluctant Futurist’ Mark Stevenson is a strategic advisor to governments, investors, NGOs and corporates and co-founder of Carbon Removals company CUR8.

Though branded a ‘futurist’ by others Mark is more, as one client puts it, ‘Chief Annoying Question Asker’. He helps organisations change the way they feel, think, invest and operate in order to answer the intertwined questions the future is asking us - on climate change, inequality, the retreat of democracy and the failures of the markets to price risk properly (to name just four).

His two bestselling books, An Optimist’s Tour of the Future and the award-winning We Do Things Differently map out some existing and proven solutions to our current dilemmas.

He is Global Ambassador for environmental law firm Client Earth and former strategic advisor on peace, national security and climate change to the UK Ministry of Defence.

He also enjoys a successful side career as a comedy writer and songwriter, which he regards as essential for maintaining key skills needed in his strategy work. “The brain does the PR for what the heart has already decided, if you can’t speak to the heart any systems change is dead in the water.”

His hit podcast with comedian Jon Richardson and fellow systems change advocate Ed Gillespie is available on all major platforms.