writer//climate change specialist

Harriet Riley is a writer and climate specialist currently working as a Speechwriter for the UN Secretary-General. She has 15 years of experience in international affairs and the NGO sector consulting to organisations including WHO, Oxfam and the Gates Foundation on everything from refugees to renewable energy. Prior to her current role, she was Creative Lead at UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Agency.

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Her writing focuses on themes informed by her career in the world of environment and diplomacy. She worked on Years of Living Dangerously, James Cameron’s Emmy-winning series about climate change, and her comedy feature about climate activists is currently in development in Australia. She has been published in The Guardian, The Australian, The Diplomat, Island Magazine, Best Australian Essays and The Bloomsbury Nature Writing Anthology.

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Harriet holds a Masters in Investigative Journalism from Columbia University and studied International Security and Intelligence at Cambridge University under former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove, where she researched the relationship between intelligence services and climate policy. As an undergrad, she studied climate change and international relations at the Australian National University and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. She comes from the rugged south coast of Western Australia.