Consultant

BSc, MSc

Ben is a consultant with over 5 years’ experience at the interface of biodiversity and business. Ben has a background working with global NGOs to integrate their expertise and science on biodiversity into business decision-making, especially in the context of renewable energy deployment. Ben has worked on a wide range of topics at the forefront of the energy transition, including national-level Strategic Environmental Assessments for wind in emerging markets, developing leading sensitivity mapping tools, and contributing to the development of best-practice guidelines on mitigating the impacts of wind and solar energy development on wildlife.

Ben worked for several years as the first Programme Officer for the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT), a globally authoritative biodiversity tool delivered by BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC. Ben’s role at IBAT focused on training companies in their use and reporting of data from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, World Database on Protected Areas and World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas, as well as marketing and communication of the tool, and the business development of the platform. Ben’s training and technical support has spanned financial institutions, with a particular focus on Development Finance Institutions, as well as a wide range of other corporates and consultancies who are navigating the emerging reporting and disclosure requirements for biodiversity.  

Ben is an ecologist and ornithologist, and his academic research includes the analysis of Cape Vulture spatial ecology, as well as the methods and execution of monitoring programmes for migratory soaring birds.

Ben Jobson