Sir Alok was a Member of the UK Parliament from 2010-2024. Prior to entering Parliament he qualified as a chartered accountant and then worked in investment banking for 16 years based out of London, Frankfurt, and Stockholm.
He served in a range of UK Government ministerial roles prior to entering the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development. He was appointed President Designate of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2020, alongside his role as Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. In 2021, he took on the COP26 role full-time, leading the UK’s work in bringing together the world to tackle climate change and getting almost 200 countries to sign up to the historic Glasgow Climate Pact.
Sir Alok was knighted in 2023 by His Majesty King Charles III, for his services to tackling climate change. He is a Climate & Finance Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford.