The last mince pie has been scoffed, and I’ve hovered up all the needles from the Christmas tree. Time for work. This is what I’m up to in 2011:

It’s the last couple of months in the life of the Sustainable Development Commission, following the government’s quango bonfire. We’re planning a session in March to make sure that others can take forward our work, and keep government on its toes. More soon.

For Green Alliance, I’m part of a team working flat out on the next phase of our Climate Leadership Programme for MPs. Over forty MPs have already taken part in one of our Leadership workshops, and this year we’ll be helping individual MPs and small groups to develop their work on climate change in particular areas.  More here.

I’m also going to be co-authoring, with the marvellous Tim Jackson, a thinkpiece for Green Alliance looking at how we can reduce overall demand for energy (rather than just being more energy efficient). Politically challenging – but very necessary.

And at home in Cumbria, I’m working with the Lake District National Park to develop one of the UK’s first area-based carbon budgets. We’ve already worked out how much carbon the Lake District is responsible for – and now we’re working with partners to set and meet a local budget, mirroring the national budgets set in the Climate Change Act. More here.

Lastly, I’m looking forward to going to Ashridge Business School next week, for my first outing as a member of their Guest Faculty, speaking about the politics of sustainability.

That should be enough to be getting on with – though I’m missing the mince pies already.

I’m always pleased to hear thoughts and feedback on my work, so please do get in touch.