As the Director of the Europe Program, Louise is responsible for providing strategy leadership, management and financial oversight for RAP's work in Europe and the UK. Sunderland guides an international team of expert professional staff, shaping RAP’s regional strategy and ensuring the organization’s continued impact on European energy policy. Louise is an expert in demand-side energy policies and energy justice, with 15 years’ experience working on energy efficiency, buildings decarbonization, energy pricing and energy poverty.
Throughout her career, Louise has worked closely with industry, the nonprofit sector and policymakers on clean energy transition policy development, most recently for the UK Green Building Council. She is an external expert for the European Commission and has served as an expert witness to provide evidence to the United Kingdom’s House of Lords. Before moving into the energy field, she spent her early career working in international development and community development.
Sunderland earned a master of science from Imperial College London in environmental technologies and received the BP Prize for Strategic Thinking. She also holds a master of arts and an undergraduate degree in English.
How Louise Sunderland is Energizing Change
Right here! Right now! New roles for energy efficiency in an electrified energy system
The European Commission is currently developing an electrification strategy to deliver this vital tool for meeting EU… Read More +
A policy toolkit for global mass heat pump deployment version 2.0
Heat pumps, a critical technology for clean energy systems, are becoming the most important technology for heating… Read More +
How did you catch the “energy” bug?
I started my career in international development and only turned to energy in my late 20s. While retraining through a Master’s in Environmental Technologies I caught the energy bug. I recognised at that time that clean energy was the greatest sustainability challenge we faced. I now also recognise that access to adequate and clean energy sources underpins basic human rights and well being, marrying the goals of my early career with my current work.
What is something that makes you feel hopeful about the future?
The thing that makes me most hopeful about the continued progress of the clean energy transition is the rapidly expanding ecosystem of groups and organisations working in support. Organisations that are more usually focused on social issues than energy issues are bringing important voices. I also feel lucky to be working alongside people from much more diverse backgrounds and with different experiences and perspectives than ever before. This is the route to better solutions and outcomes. The energy sector has a lot more to do but I am encouraged by the recent progress.
My favourite thing to eat is beer and crisps. The beer should preferably be bitter, not lager. The crisps should be cheese and onion (or salt and vinegar with lager).