Mr Mark Gainsborough spent 39 years with Shell where he held various senior appointments, based in the UK, Turkey, Netherlands and Singapore. His last role in Shell was Executive Vice-President (EVP) and head of Shell’s New Energies business. He was responsible for building positions in renewable power, energy storage, EV charging, hydrogen, biofuels and nature-based solutions. Prior to this, he was EVP of Global Commercial, leading Shell’s global Lubricants, Bitumen, Jet Fuel, Marine Fuels and Sulphur businesses.
After retiring from Shell in 2020, he founded Low Carbon Advisors, a business that helps boards and CEOs to navigate the path to net zero carbon emissions.
Mr Gainsborough is currently a board member of Greenko, one of the largest renewables developers in India and Husk Power Systems, a leading developer of mini-grids in India and Africa. He is also an independent director at Green Mantra Technologies, a Canadian plastics recycling business. He serves on a number of advisory boards including Beyond Net Zero, an Energy Transition investment fund, and is a member of the United Overseas Bank (UOB) Sustainability Advisory Panel. His past professional interests include the healthcare sector, serving for five years as a non-executive director of one of the UK’s National Health Service Trusts. He has also served as the vice president of the European Petroleum Industry Association. He currently chairs the board of a wildlife conservation charity based in South Africa.
Mr Gainsborough holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Policy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from University College, London. He is a Fellow of the UK Energy Institute.