European Climate Foundation
Statement of Suitability
Nicole Lockwood · Chief Executive Officer, European Climate Foundation
Nicole Lockwood · Personal Practice
I
This is my perspective of the world as it is today and the opportunity for deep transformation.
The climate transition has reached its most consequential turning point. The work ahead requires more than policy ambition or technical fluency. It requires the leadership capable of holding alignment across fragmenting coalitions, between competing interests, and across the political spectrum, while remaining anchored in the long horizon.
For two decades I have been entrusted to lead transformation where policy, industry, community and capital collide. From Western Australia's first 20-year State Infrastructure Strategy to Australia's first cross-sector Net Zero collaboration for infrastructure, my work has consistently sat at the intersection of bold ambition and practical, system-wide execution. I am now bringing this capability to Europe, where the climate transition is most exposed, most consequential, and most in need of the connector-and-integrator leadership the European Climate Foundation has built its reputation on.
The opportunity to lead the ECF arrives at the precise moment I have been preparing for. I see an opportunity to bring a fresh set of eyes to the organisation in the context of the need for increasing global connections.
For over two decades I have led the architecture of systems-level transitions across infrastructure, climate, governance and economic transformation. As Chair of Infrastructure WA, I delivered Western Australia's first 20-year State Infrastructure Strategy in 2022, a single integrated plan now adopted across every agency and sector in the state, and the foundation for the Strategy Refresh I shaped for 2027, which integrates climate, resilience and future systems at the heart of the framework.
As Inaugural Executive Chair of Infrastructure Net Zero, I convened 12 peak bodies and federal government agencies to develop Australia's first cross-sector industry-government collaboration on the infrastructure transition to Net Zero. We established shared language, frameworks (Defining Net Zero) and capability pathways (Skills for Net Zero) that have become the national reference points for the sector.
As Joint Reviewer of Infrastructure Australia for the Federal Government, I co-led the modernisation of national infrastructure governance, delivering recommendations that have been formally adopted and implemented at the federal level.
My strategic leadership is grounded in systems thinking: the discipline of seeing the connections between political, economic, social and ecological forces shaping any transition, and translating that visibility into clear priorities and measurable institutional change. The ECF's work (catalysing the European net-zero transition across fragmented stakeholders and complex political dynamics) is the work I have spent my career preparing to do at international scale.
I have operated at the highest levels of Australian government, multilateral coordination and industry leadership for over twenty years. My federal roles include eight years on the Board of Infrastructure Australia (longest-serving member through the major national planning reforms), Joint Reviewer of Infrastructure Australia for Minister Catherine King, and inaugural Board Member of the Net Zero Economy Agency. I held roles as Deputy Chair of the Green Building Council of Australia, longest serving member of the National Freight and Supply Chain Industry Panel, and have served on the boards of NBN Co, Water Corporation, and Horizon Power across digital infrastructure and utilities.
I am an experienced public communicator who shapes climate and infrastructure narratives across the political spectrum and across diverse audiences, from cabinet ministers and federal agencies, to community town halls in regional WA, to industry executives and international forums. I have led panel discussions, delivered keynotes, given evidence to parliamentary inquiries, and regularly speak at industry events. My approach is to engage credibly across difference: to hold the room when interests conflict, and to articulate complex systemic issues with clarity that diverse audiences can act on.
My external reach extends into international climate, sustainability and futures leadership through ongoing collaboration with figures including Jeremy Bentham (former lead of Shell's Global Scenarios team), Matthew Bell (Chair of the World Green Building Council; former global lead for climate and sustainability at EY, current engagement on industrial decarbonisation in Western Australia through Mission Possible Partnership), and Sophie Howe (former Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, partnership work through the School of International Futures). The credibility, gravitas and political-spectrum reach required to represent the ECF globally is the credibility I have built across two decades of operating at the highest levels of Australian governance and increasingly at the international scale of the climate ecosystem.
I have founded and built Lockwood Advisory (2015 to present), a strategic advisory practice that operates at the intersection of infrastructure, governance, climate transition and system reform. I am Co-Founder and Executive Chair of WA+, a purpose-led intermediary enabling systems-level collaboration across government, industry and community. As Venture Partner at Purpose Ventures and Director of Biome Foundation, I have built capability and brought disciplined operational rigour to founder-led, impact-driven organisations at scale.
As Chair of Infrastructure WA, I have led an institution charged with delivering coordinated infrastructure planning across the entire state, directing the establishment of WA's first market capacity assessment platform, the Major Infrastructure Project Assessment framework (for projects over $100M), and the whole-of-system scenario planning and analytics platform. This required building and leading high-performing executive teams, fostering accountability, and balancing long-term transformation with disciplined execution.
My collaboration with international leaders including Jeremy Bentham, Matthew Bell and Sophie Howe has built capability to lead and convene across cultural, jurisdictional and disciplinary boundaries: essential foundations for the work of leading a 300-person internationally distributed organisation.
As executive chair of the Westport Taskforce, I led a 25 person team to reimagine the freight and supply chains of Western Australia in a context of union opposition and personal attacks. This required a deep connection to the outcome and supportive and resilient team culture.
After a tragic death of a child in ED at the Perth Children's hospital, as Chair of the People and Culture Committee I led the review into the culture of the hospital and worked closely with the executive to focus on irradicating racism and creating a culture of safety to call out poor behaviour.
Partnership building across complex, multi-stakeholder environments is the central thread of my career. As Executive Chair of the Westport Taskforce (2017 to 2020), I led an engagement process across more than 70 stakeholder groups (government, industry, community, environmental, and First Nations) to evaluate 28 supply chain options and deliver consensus on the preferred future port solution for Western Australia. The outcome enabled $23M of marine resilience investment and produced the state's first cumulative environmental impact model for major supply chain decisions.
As Co-Founder and Executive Chair of WA+, I established a purpose-led intermediary that convenes diverse stakeholders, brokers trust and alignment, and catalyses coordinated action on climate transition, social cohesion, and long-term economic resilience, operating as a neutral backbone that translates collective intelligence into real-world outcomes. As Inaugural Chair of Infrastructure Net Zero, I built and led Australia's first industry-government collaboration on the infrastructure climate transition, aligning stakeholders across deeply divergent priorities into shared frameworks and capability pathways.
I describe my professional identity as that of a System Transition Broker, and this is precisely the relationship management capability the ECF requires of its CEO. The work of building, sustaining and leveraging diverse cross-sector partnerships, of aligning stakeholders behind shared goals while navigating differing priorities, of holding the centre when fragmentation pulls outward: this is the work I have done at the most contested intersections of Australian public policy for two decades, and it is the work I am ready to bring to the European climate ecosystem.
I bring direct experience in attracting, aligning and stewarding institutional capital at a significant scale. As Venture Partner at Purpose Ventures, I supported the establishment of the AUD$55M Venture Capital Fund and personally secured the cornerstone investor at $12M, evidence of capability to engage major institutional capital and to translate strategic vision into compelling investment propositions. As Director of Biome Foundation, I am currently leading fundraising for a AUD$100M nature restoration fund for Western Australia, a major nature-positive investment vehicle being developed in partnership with regional investors and aligned philanthropic capital.
My stewardship of public-sector capital includes contribution to the federal infrastructure investment framework that underpins Australia's national infrastructure pipeline (through eight years on the Board of Infrastructure Australia), oversight of the strategic prioritisation of public and private infrastructure investment for the entire state of Western Australia (as Chair of Infrastructure WA), and direct enablement of $23M of marine resilience investment alongside the supply chain decision through the Westport Taskforce.
Across both sides of the capital relationship (attracting it and stewarding it), I bring a track record of aligning funding with strategic impact, inspiring confidence through clear articulation of outcomes, and overseeing the allocation of resources at scale. I am ready to bring this capability to the ECF's philanthropic mobilisation, fundraising partnerships, and the leadership of the financial stewardship that underpins the foundation's grantmaking.
Governance is the deepest evidence base in my career. I have served on more than 35 boards and advisory groups across six jurisdictions over twenty years. As Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at Infrastructure Australia, I led the modernisation of the agency's governance, evaluation and risk frameworks through a period of major national planning reform. As Joint Reviewer of Infrastructure Australia, I co-led the federal review of the agency's mandate, structure and accountability, with recommendations formally adopted and implemented across the institution and its relationships with government.
My governance experience spans federal agencies (Infrastructure Australia, Net Zero Economy Agency), state authorities (Infrastructure WA, Pilbara Development Commission, WA Planning Commission, Pilbara Regional Council, Shire of Roebourne), public corporations (NBN Co, Water Corporation, Horizon Power), purpose-driven organisations (Green Building Council of Australia, WA Association for Mental Health, Malka Foundation, Child and Adolescent Health Service), and venture-stage companies (Airbridge, MNG). I have held board roles across infrastructure, climate, governance, community, regional development, freight, education and innovation.
This breadth has built deep judgement in managing organisational risk, reputation, compliance and accountability across complex, multi-jurisdictional and politically sensitive environments. I understand what good board engagement looks like from both sides of the table, and I bring the discipline of transparency, ethical leadership, and constructive challenge to the governance of any institution I serve. The ECF Board can be confident of consistent, principled, and rigorous engagement.
My leadership philosophy is grounded in the conviction that transformation begins with people: in their values, their vision, and their courage to choose a better future together. I lead with warmth, with curiosity, and with the discipline of holding others in their growth as well as their accountability.
I am a Leadership WA Honorary Fellow (2026), a member of Chief Executive Women, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and have served on boards including the Child and Adolescent Health Service, the WA Association for Mental Health, and Notre Dame University Advisory Committee, alongside my infrastructure, climate and governance roles. My approach to people leadership has been recognised through nominations for the Telstra Business Woman of the Year and the UDIA WA Women in Leadership Award.
Across every engagement I have prioritised inclusive decision-making, the building of trust across difference, and the disciplined development of others, particularly women, First Nations leaders, and emerging voices in the infrastructure and climate sectors. I am deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion as both an ethical position and an operational requirement for any institution that aspires to systemic impact.
My international and intercultural reach has been built through deep collaboration with leaders working across European, Welsh and global climate ecosystems (including Jeremy Bentham, Matthew Bell and Sophie Howe) and through extensive engagement with First Nations leadership across Western Australia.
I am ready to bring the full weight of my experience as a chief executive and systems-transition leader to the work of the European Climate Foundation. The role asks for visionary leadership, partnership-brokering, governance rigour, organisational stewardship, capital mobilisation, and the gravitas to represent the climate transition at the highest levels of European and global decision-making. These are the capabilities I have built and tested across two decades of leadership at the most complex intersections of policy, industry, community and capital.
I am moving to Europe at the end of 2026, a deliberate professional and personal transition into the next phase of my work, and a long-considered move into the climate ecosystem I believe is doing the most important leadership work of this moment. The opportunity to lead the European Climate Foundation through its next chapter is the opportunity I have been preparing for.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how my experience and leadership philosophy aligns with the ECF's needs and ambition for this role.