Andy Eastlake is stepping down after more than a decade at the helm of Zemo Partnership with Claire Haigh named as his replacement.

Haigh, the founder and CEO of Greener Vision (formerly Greener Transport Solutions) and executive director of the Transport Knowledge Hub is to take on the leadership role at Zemo from January 2024.

She was previously CEO of Greener Journeys, an evidence-based campaign organisation funded by the major public transport companies which was established to highlight the environmental and associated benefits of bus travel. 

She also currently chairs the Delivery and Impacts Independent Review Panel for the Joint Air Quality Unit.

Haigh has worked closely with Zemo (formerly the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership/LowCVP), for many years. 

As the partnership’s vice chair, in early 2023 she carried out a survey of senior stakeholders on the past role and future opportunities for Zemo, providing input to a strategic review commissioned for the Partnership’s 20th anniversary year. 

The key conclusion of the review was that the priority now for net zero is the delivery of targets.  This will be its primary focus under Haigh’s leadership.  

She said: “I am delighted to be taking the helm of Zemo Partnership at this crucial juncture for the net zero agenda.

“Climate change is our greatest predicament and decarbonising transport is one of the toughest challenges of all.

“The UK has some world-leading targets, but what is now needed is a laser-like focus on delivery. 

“Crucially, we need the right policies and incentives to enable the investment and support the supply chain transition."

She added: “There is a massive amount to do, but there has also been significant progress. 

“Under Andy’s exemplary leadership, Zemo has been there as the honest broker every step of the way - working with Government, industry and academia to find solutions for net zero road transport.”

When Eastlake began leading the Partnership in 2012, zero emission vehicles were rare; barely 1,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were sold in that year and average new car CO2 emissions were 135g/km.

He leaves as annual BEV and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) car registrations approach 500,000, almost a quarter of the UK’s new car market.

Zemo has been building on learnings from the bus sector to replicate its success for longer range trucks and coaches.

It has embedded earlier work on renewable fuels, recently introducing the Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme, to provide independent advice on fuels’ greenhouse gas emission savings and raw materials provenance, helping to improve operator confidence and trust in the sustainability performance of fuels like HVO and biomethane.

During his tenure, Eastlake (pictured below) has also overseen the groundbreaking work of the Zemo-convened Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce which – for the first time – brought together stakeholders from the energy and transport sectors to maximise the potential opportunities arising from transport’s decarbonisation transition.

Recommendations from the taskforce were recently enshrined in legislation through the Public Charge Point Regulations. 

As a founding member of LowCVP in 2003, Zemo said that Eastlake has been a leading figure in the UK’s low – now zero – carbon transport world for the past two decades.

Zemo Partnership’s chair, Philip Sellwood, said: “Andy has made an outstanding contribution to this agenda, driving mobility in all its forms on a faster route towards net zero.

“Much has been achieved so far but there’s still much to do as we progress into the delivery phase of the decarbonisation transition.

“I warmly welcome Claire as Andy’s replacement. She comes to the role with a wealth of transport experience and also detailed knowledge of Zemo. I look forward to working with her.”

Eastlake said it had been a “huge honour” to lead the organisation. “We’ve all made great progress on the road to net zero but now it’s time to re-focus and deliver the technologies that we know are now market-ready and able to decarbonise our transport sector,” he added.

“I wish the new leadership and all my many friends, colleagues and collaborators in this unique partnership every success in the next stages of the sprint to net zero transport.”

Zemo is a public-private partnership working to accelerate a sustainable shift to low carbon fuels and zero emission vehicles.