Steve Sawyer, a founder of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and its first secretary general, has passed away. After decades as a Greenpeace International campaigner, he became secretary general of GWEC in 2007 and served in that role for over 10 years, campaigning for governments to turn to wind as a solution to the climate crisis and seeing a rise in global wind installations from 74GW to 539GW. More recently, he acted as a senior policy advisor for GWEC.
“Steve has been a constant source of inspiration and support for me over the last decade,” said Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC. “More than anyone else I know, he never let the wind industry forget the fight to stop dangerous climate change and why what we are collectively doing is so important. He travelled and worked constantly, but he always had time to chat, and he was a loyal and caring friend. We will miss him sorely.”
Here at World Wind Technology we would like to offer our condolences to Steve’s family, friends and colleagues.