Dr. Stephen Bygrave has worked for 30 years on many leading climate policies at the international, national and sub-national levels. He is an Honorary Professor at the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions at the Australian National University and Director of Candlebark Mountain Refuge, a 320 acre off-grid sustainable retreat in the snowy mountains.
He currently consults to various clients, including as Special Advisor to the federal government on the National Electric Vehicle Strategy. Stephen spent three years as CEO of national think tank Beyond Zero Emissions and two years at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris.
Stephen spent more than ten years with the Senior Executive Service in various government agencies at the state and federal level including the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Department of Climate Change, Department of Environment and Heritage, and Department of Agriculture. During this time, he worked on significant reforms including development of the carbon pricing mechanism, the national renewable energy target, the 100% renewables strategy in ACT Government and net zero emissions strategies in NSW and ACT Governments.
His PhD, funded by Greenpeace and the ANU in the mid 1990s, looked at models for successful village scale renewable energy adoption in the Pacific Islands. Stephen has held Visiting Professor roles at the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and the Institute for Environmental Studies at UNSW, as well as Visiting Fellow roles at Melbourne University and ANU.