About
Climate Guide is a public sector consultancy led by Rachel Coxcoon. Rachel specialises in the political and social dimensions of climate policy, with over 20 years of senior leadership experience in local government and the climate sector.
Between 2005 and 2021, Rachel held senior positions at the Centre for Sustainable Energy, one of the UK's leading climate charities. As Head of Local and Community Empowerment, she led programmes supporting hundreds of local authorities and community energy groups across England, Wales, and Scotland. From 2019, she served as Director of the Climate Emergency Support Programme, establishing CSE as the primary support provider for councils responding to the wave of climate emergency declarations.
During this period, Rachel developed and led a range of programmes on community energy and community engagement and consultation, including the delivery of national support schemes for community renewable energy projects, and award-winning projects supporting councils to use the Planning system to deliver better climate outcomes. Rachel led the development of several widely-adopted tools and methodologies, including the Impact Tool, a free community-scale carbon footprinting platform that has been used by over 300 local councils, and the Future Energy Landscapes methodology, a participatory engagement approach to energy infrastructure siting that has achieved 85% community support for ambitious renewable energy proposals and is regularly used by public authorities in energy planning.
As Cabinet Member for Climate and Planning at Cotswold District Council (2019-2023), Rachel brought this experience directly into local government decision-making, leading climate strategy development while navigating the practical and political realities of implementation in a rural district with 80% protected landscape and the highest number of conservation areas of any district in England.
Through PhD research at Lancaster University (2021-2025), Rachel examined political ideology and climate policy attitudes in rural communities, using quantitative survey methods and causal modelling. She has published peer-reviewed research on climate assemblies and political representation, and regularly contributes to policy discussions on climate governance.
Alongside her PhD, Rachel also led the delivery of The Sounding Board, a 12-month deliberative citizens' assembly on grid infrastructure, funded by the European Climate Foundation, as well as an ongoing programme of Carbon Literacy training and bespoke climate workshops to elected members and officers at councils including Bristol, Sheffield, Liverpool, Blackpool, Walsall, Somerset, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, and the London Boroughs of Redbridge and Ealing.
