Ann Pettifor: Operation Noah's Strategic Advisor

Ann Pettifor became Campaigns Director with Operation Noah in early 2007. She brought with her a wealth of experience – in economics, in advocacy and in campaigning. Her vision and contacts enabled Operation Noah to sharpen its political focus.

Operation Noah quickly began to take its place alongside other major players in the climate change scene, with invitations to Downing Street and opportunities within Stop Climate Chaos and similar organisations.

Under Ann's leadership, Operation Noah established the ‘Reclaim Christmas’ campaign launched with an annual lecture by Father Christopher Jamison, the Abbot of Worth, in October 2008. Operation Noah played a key role in highlighting the importance of the Copenhagen Climate talks at the end of 2009. Ann was the inspiration behind the ‘Ark campaign, providing a media focus with personalities such as Rt Rev Richard Chartre, Bishop of London and Ed Miliband willing to front events involving arks, animals and water!

The Rt Rev Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury spoke to a packed audience in Southwark Cathedral at the annual lecture in October 2009 following a personal invitation from Ann. Funding constraints have meant that rather than a full time role, Ann is now Strategic Advisor to Operation Noah, an organisation for which her enthusiasm remains unchanged.

Ann's other activities

Ann  is a fellow of the new economics foundation (nef) and co-author of ‘The Green New Deal’ . Ann was a leader and co-founder of the international Jubilee 2000 campaign (‘Drop the Debt’) from 1994 until 2001. She helped mobilise a global movement (most of whom were faith-motivated) that persuaded world leaders to cancel more than £100 billion of debts owed by 42 of the poorest countries.

She lectures widely on international finance and sovereign debt; and on the need to devise new economic policies to deal with the ‘triple crunch’ of the financial crisis; peak oil and climate change. She is also a director of Advocacy International Ltd.

She blogs at her website: www.debtonation.org and also the Huffington Post  and has contributed articles to a range of journals, the Guardian and the New Statesman on the current financial crisis.

She is editor of ‘The real world economic outlook’ (Palgrave 2003) which in 2003 accurately predicted “a seismic crisis” - the bursting of the credit bubble “in America, not Argentina”. (Cover of the New Statesman 1st September, 2003.) In 2006 she authored ‘The coming first world debt crisis’ (Palgrave 2006).