At WWF, Dean Cooper is aiming for a “faster, greener, & fairer” global transformation to 100% nature-safe energy based on renewables. This includes fossil-fuel phase-out, energy efficiency, energy access, and just energy transitions. During his energy career of over 30 years prior to WWF, Dean was a programme manager for the national UK Energy Agency, became Head of International Co-operation for a European Commission support unit in Brussels promoting energy technologies worldwide, and was seconded to the Department of Minerals & Energy in South Africa to build EU/Southern Africa energy co-operation before being relocated to Botswana to build closer links with SADC (the Southern Africa Development Community).

After completing an MBA with distinction at Warwick Business School in the UK, including time in Zanzibar to support a small tourism operator, Dean established and managed the Parallax-Sustainable Development Solutions business in South Africa with a focus on bringing clean energy supplies to a remote community in KwaZulu-Natal. He then spent 7 years as Energy Finance Manager with UNEP (the United Nations Environment Programme) in Paris, and was Global Energy Sector Co-ordinator for SNV in the Netherlands before joining WWF in 2021.