Initially trained as a teacher, Burrow has been active in the Australian trade union movement for several decades. In 2010, she became head of the International Trade Union Confederation, the world’s largest trade union federation which through its 325 affiliated organisations represents 176 million workers in over 160 countries. In May this year Burrow led a renewed ‘Unions4Climate’ movement, explicitly designed to contribute to the political debate on the run up to Paris 2015 and offering the powerful line that ‘There are no jobs on a dead planet’. You can follow her on Twitter @SharanBurrow.
Barbara Buchner
How will we pay for action on climate change?
Sharan Burrow
Leading the workers’ fight on climate
Winnie Byanyima
Oxfam’s leader bringing expertise on gender and climate change
Heidi Cullen
Climatologist leading us through Years of Living Dangerously
Judith Curry
Blogger and scientist favoured by sceptics
Christiana Figueres
Most powerful woman in climate? Heads the UNFCCC
Tamsin Edwards
Scientist making a name for herself as a fearless communicator
Joanna Haigh
Solar expert, rare female Fellow of the Royal Society
Katherine Hayhoe
Evangelical Christian climate scientist and communicator
Connie Hedegaard
Danish politician, been leading EU work on climate
Lesley Hughes
Scientist standing up to politicians’ scepticism in Australia
Naomi Klein
Writer inviting us to consider ideological sides of climate debate
Annie Leonard
New head of Greenpeace USA, community organiser
Corinne Le Quéré
Scientist highly respected in communications and policy
Gina McCarthy
Head of the EPA, face of Obama’s recent climate push
Naomi Oreskes
Historian of science pointing out the ‘merchants of doubt’
Mary Robinson
First female President of Ireland, UN Special Envoy for Climate Change
Julia Slingo
Helping us understand climate and weather
Koko Warner
World authority on climate change and migration
Ailun Yang
Helping unpick low-carbon development in China and elsewhere