Jonathan Leather

Jonathan joined Grant Thornton in 2024 as a Director in the Sustainability Advisory team. Prior to joining the company, he worked for over 20 years in the global energy industry, specialising in strategic leadership, cross-functional team management, and stakeholder communication across multiple international locations.

He has held leadership positions at Shell, Tullow Oil, and as Chief Operating Officer of United Oil & Gas plc.

His deep understanding of the energy transition and its regulatory framework combined with his experience as a C-suite executive engaging with senior stakeholders across industry, civil society and the investment community, uniquely positions him to support clients in integrating sustainability into their strategy, and in helping them to meet their sustainability related obligations whilst ensuring the commercial benefits are maximised.

Professional experience

• At Grant Thornton, Jonathan has led sustainability reporting projects for a number of different companies. These have included an international energy insurance provider, and a design and construction company specialising in data centres. This work involved hosting numerous workshops to take the company through the double-materiality assessment, aligning outputs with the existing risk register and climate materiality assessment, and ensuring assurance-ready deliverables.
• Jonathan has also led a number of projects on climate risk, working with companies and local authorities to identify their material climate-related risks and recommend actions for adaptation / mitigation, and to ensure regulatory alignment.
• As Chief Operating Officer of United Oil & Gas, Jonathan defined and implemented the company's sustainability strategy, establishing ESG policies and an HSE management system. This included setting up an ESG Board Committee, providing regular reports to the Board on complex risk assessments, and delivering training workshops in Dublin and Cairo to ensure awareness of the ESG policies across United’s offices.
• Jonathan has led stakeholder engagement initiatives in multiple countries, including licence-to-operate negotiations with government entities and the securing of environmental approvals.