Jo Gay was appointed as Southend on Sea city council’s first Head of Climate Change in September 2021 to lead the design and delivery of climate-related strategies and projects across housing, green infrastructure, coastal resilience, transport, and carbon mitigation as well as driving corporate change to meet the council and city’s 2030 net zero carbon target. Her remit was recently extended to include the councils Waste Management, Street Cleansing and Environmental Care to prioritise and strengthen the carbon reduction focus of the service

Jo has more than 15 years of local and regional authority experience as a qualified town planner with an environmental specialism across London and the South East, successfully leading multi-disciplinary teams to develop and deliver environmental sustainability projects.