Clive Mather is the Chairman of the Board of Tearfund USA, the latest member of the global Tearfund family. In September 2018 he retired as Chairman of Tearfund after serving his full term of 10 years. During this time he visited Tearfund's work in 47 countries, encouraging partners and local churches. Tearfund is a Christian relief and development agency "following Jesus where the need is greatest". It is committed to eradicating poverty through 3 primary channels. Firstly through its disaster relief capacity, it is able to bring front line emergency help to those communities ravaged by war, earthquake or other calamities. Secondly working through it worldwide partners and a global network of local churches, it is able to transform families and communities by empowering the local church to mobilise resources that are available and inspire collective action to tackle poverty in all its forms. And thirdly through its advocacy, Tearfund highlights the impact of climate change, injustice and corruption on those least able to cope. It calls governments and global institutions to account, arguing for concerted global action and a fairer allocation of resources to meet the needs of the poor and oppressed. He serves as a Director of Emissions Reduction Alberta which works to develop and commercialise technologies which will reduce carbon and other GHG emissions in Canada and beyond. He is the President, Relational Peacebuilding Initiatives based in Geneva, working to bring relational solutions to long standing conflict situations in various parts of the world. The current main focus is the Korean Peninsula. After 70 years of bitter division, North and South Korea have now begun political talks aimed at replacing recrimination with co-operation. What is needed is a parallel process which will bring economic growth and social transformation to the whole Peninsula. RPI is already working behind the scenes to develop a partnership model that will enable North and South to agree together the values, goals and priorities in each of the main sectors of society. This is vital if economic progress is to be demonstrated in the short-term and the possibility of peaceful unification nurtured for the future. He is Chair designate of the Church of England Pensions Board having been appointed by General Synod on 20 February 2019. He will take up the role on 1 May 2019. The Pensions Board provides pensions, housing and retirement services for those who have served or worked for the Church. In 2008 he was appointed Chairman of the Shell Pensions Trust Ltd, one of the biggest defined benefit pension funds in the UK. The Trust oversees the investment and management of the Shell Contributory Pension Fund, providing benefits for 40,000+ active and retired members of Royal Dutch Shell in the UK. He was also appointed Chairman of Shell's new UK defined contribution scheme, the UK Shell Pension Plan Trust Limited which started in 2013. He stepped down from both roles on 31 May 2018 after 10 years' service to the Funds. In 2012, he was appointed Chairman of the Garden Tomb Association and stepped down in 2017 after serving his full term of 9 years as a Trustee. He is the former Chairman of Iogen Corporation, a Canadian bio-technology company specialising in enzyme technology and based in Ottawa. Iogen is the leading producer of cellulosic ethanol. He served as a Director for 10 years of which 9 were as Chairman. He retired in July 2017. Mather is a former employee of Royal Dutch Shell. He joined Shell in the United Kingdom 1969 and retired in 2007. His career included assignments in Brunei, Gabon, South Africa, the Netherlands, Canada and the UK where he was Chairman of Shell UK Limited between 2002 and 2004. His last position was as President and CEO of Shell Canada Ltd based in Calgary, prior to its take over by Royal Dutch Shell Limited. Mather was formerly Chairman of the UK Government/Industry CSR Academy, Deputy Chairman of the Windsor Leadership Trust and Chairman of the IMD Business Advisory Council in Switzerland. He has held a number of public appointments in the UK including Commissioner for the Equal Opportunities Commission, Chairman of the Petroleum Employer's Council and Chairman of the Lambeth Education Action Zone. In July 2009 he was appointed as one of the 12 members of the Premier's Council for Economic Strategy in Alberta. He has also served on the Royal Anniversary Trust for some 7 years. Mather was educated at Warwick School and Lincoln College, Oxford. He is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He speaks on issues of leadership, ethics, the environment and energy internationally.
CABE Annual Hugh Kay Lecture 2013
In November 2013 Mather gave a lecture in the Palace of Westminster to the Christian Association of Business Executives on the occasion of its 75th birthday. It was entitled "Time travel - has big business lost its compass?" For the full text see http://www.cabe-online.org/
In October 2004 Mather gave a speech to the Evangelical Alliance in London entitled "Trust: Whose business is it" during which he said "Meticulous compliance with all the new regulations is a must, but will not be enough. We have to try harder; we have to set the highest standards in everything we do, because trust is essential to our business."
Mather has been involved with the Relationships Foundation to whom he has said "Concern for relationships is a vital part of sustainable development – whether economic, environmental or social - and must feature in political debate and decision making".
