James has worked in the public and private sectors, operating at both national and international levels, as a government regulator, industrial policy and international trade advisor; trade policy negotiator; university assistant lecturer; diplomat and trade commissioner; forest products marketer; and business sector advocate on sustainable development. James has degrees in Psychology, International Politics and Political Science from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, USA.

James joined WBCSD in August 2002 based in Geneva, Switzerland. His primary responsibilities are to manage the Council’s Ecosystems Focus Area, a multi-sector program of leading international companies addressing risks and opportunities associated with ecosystem impacts and dependence; and WBCSD’s Water Project focusing on strategies and solutions for sustainable water management. He also coordinates the Sustainable Forest Products Industry (SFPI) sector project, working with global forestry companies to promote sustainable forest management (SFM); enhance customer confidence in using paper, wood and bio-energy from sustainable sources; as well as build-up stakeholder confidence in the industry. James is on WBCSD’s Executive Management Team.

James currently serves on the Steering Committees of The Forests Dialogue, a multi-stakeholder forum involving business, environment and social advocacy groups addressing critical SFM challenges; the Growing Forest Partnerships (GFP) initiative of The World Bank, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) which aims to catalyze and support local level partnerships for SFM; and the industry advisory group of the Forest Legality Alliance (FLA), a US based multi-stakeholder initiative to reduce demand for illegally harvested forest products.

He is also participates on the Advisory Committee of Conservation International’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB); the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Advisory Group on Ecosystem Services; is a private sector observer to the Government of Netherland’s Green Development Initiative (GDI) and the Planning Group of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) hosted by the UN Environment Program.