Draft:Ben Backwell

• Comment: LinkedIn isn't a usable source on Wikipedia EaglesFan37 (talk) 16:06, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

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Ben Backwell is a British renewable energy industry executive, author and former journalist.. He is Chief Executive Officer of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), a trade association representing the global wind energy industry.

Backwell is a prominent commentator on the wind industry and the author of several books including Wind Power: The Struggle for Control of a New Global Industry, published by Routledge, examining the growth of wind energy companies across the world.

Backwell is also Chair and co-founder of the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), an umbrella group of international trade associations representing wind energy, solar power and other renewable energy industries.

Early life and education

Backwell holds a Master of Science degree in Political Science from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of London.

Career

Journalism and consultancy

Before joining GWEC, Backwell spent two decades working as a journalist, foreign correspondent, analyst and consultant covering energy markets and energy policy. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of Recharge magazine and later joined FTI Consulting, where he served as a managing director advising clean energy companies and investors on communications and business strategies.

Global Wind Energy Council

In 2018, Backwell became Chief Executive Officer of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the international trade association representing the wind energy industry, succeeding former Secretary-General Steve Sawyer, the environmentalist and former leader of Greenpeace. Under Backwell’s leadership, GWEC has expanded its engagement in global policy fora and international climate negotiations.

As CEO of GWEC, Backwell has been a prominent advocate for accelerating wind energy deployment, working with policymakers and investors to support the growth of the wind industry worldwide, including in emerging markets such as Latin America and Asia-Pacific, organising events such as Brazil WindPower, Argentina WindPower and the APAC Wind Energy Summit.

Backwell is regularly cited in international media, providing commentary and analysis on key developments and trends in the wind industry and featuring in interviews with the Financial Times, Bloomberg, BBC News, CNN Brasil, La Nacional and Clarin

In 2025, Backwell was presented with a Global Wind Ambassador Award by ABEEólica, the Brazilian wind power association.

Global Renewables Alliance

In 2025, Backwell was appointed Chair of the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), an umbrella organisation GWEC co-founded to bring together renewable energy industry bodies to advocate for increased renewable energy deployment worldwide. The GRA led a “double down, triple up” campaign at the COP28 climate summit, culminating in a pledge from 118 countries to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Under Backwell’s tenure, GWEC co-founded the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), an alliance of 28 member governments, in 2022, as well as Ocean Energy Pathway, a global non-profit organisation to promote offshore wind power as a solution to climate change, in 2023.

Publications

Backwell is the author of several books charting the growth of the wind sector, including:

• Wind Power: The Struggle for Control of a New Global Industry (Routledge, 2014; revised second edition, 2017). The book examines the development of the global wind energy industry, including technological trends, industrial competition, and energy policy.
• The Haynes Guide to Offshore Wind (Haynes Publishing, 2015)