Vanessa Timmer

Change Agent

Dr. Vanessa Timmer is an award-winning global expert and strategist in advancing sustainable living, systems change and social innovation. For more than 25 years, she has worked at the forefront of a critical and underdeveloped frontier: transforming how people live so that everyone can thrive within Earth’s ecological limits. Vanessa is Executive Director and Co-Founder of OneEarth Living, a global think-and-do tank advancing sustainable everyday living. As a trusted advisor to organizations including IKEA, C40 Cities, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), she helps design strategies and solutions that transform lifestyles, behaviour and consumption, and enable systems to support sustainable living at scale. Through her foundational contributions, Vanessa positions the field of sustainable living as a key pathway for climate and nature action, equity, and wellbeing. For more than two decades, she has joined others in shaping the international agenda – including establishing UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production – and convening leaders across sectors to advance systems approaches to advance thriving, low-carbon global lifestyles. Vanessa’s work bridges research, real-world experimentation and cultural change. A central focus is accelerating the uptake of sustainable living practices during Big Life Changes - key life events from moving to becoming a parent to retiring when people’s behaviours and context are in flux and open to change. Vanessa advises the UN Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Programme and is an Expert Advisor to The Earthshot Prize. Her contributions have been recognized with honours including the YWCA Women of Distinction Award in Environmental Sustainability. She is an internationally sought-after speaker and strategist, presenting at global forums including the World Circular Economy Forum, and she co-hosted the award-winning sustainability television series The Sustainable Region for a decade. Vanessa holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia and is a Senior Research Fellow at Utrecht University. She studied at Oxford University as a Chevening Scholar and at Harvard Kennedy School as a Fulbright Fellow.

The need to move quickly in response to our climate and ecological emergencies. If you are transforming our ways of living to create climate solutions, social justice and healthier communities, let’s talk.

Tapping into our life transitions to create better futures together. Imagine if every Big Life Change accelerates our transition to joyful, climate-friendly living - from the way we eat, travel, work, consume, and play. Our modern lifestyles bring countless benefits, and also drive climate collapse and social tensions. Yet, scientists say that changing our ways of living offers one of our greatest hopes - a phenomenal 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with the right support. Let’s harness Big Life Changes - graduation, new jobs, moving, starting a family, retiring - to create low-carbon, thriving ways of living.

Brands, Cities, Climate action, Community, Consumption, Environment, Equity, Futures, Justice, Lifestyles, Narrative, Nature, Services, Storytelling, Sustainability, Sustainable ways of living, Systems change

I am a long time follower and fan of TED, attended the 2024 TED Conference, participated in the Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle in 2024 including the TED Countdown session, joined TED Countdown 2025 in Nairobi where I was invited to deliver a sold out workshop on Reimagining Global North Lifestyles , and am delighted to be attending 2026 TED Conference.

Improvisational comedy - I trained in improv and find the ‘yes and’ technique improves my life, friendships and interactions greatly!