An eco-zealot who has been blocking roads in central London is a former BBC technology chief who lives in a £900,000 home and once worked on a 'green' initiative with a state-owned business in China.
Tim Lancaster, who is a current director of a climate change research group due to take part in COP26, was pictured yesterday as he and his teacher wife Louise, 56, desperately tried to hold back a car during an Insulate Britain protest near Southwark Bridge.
MailOnline can reveal that Mr Lancaster, 54, built links in China while he had a high-flying post with the Carbon Trust, which fights climate change.
Mrs Lancaster left her job as a teacher to spend more time on climate activism, and has been a familiar figure at Insulate Britain protests in recent weeks.
She has repeatedly held up traffic while facing the ire of angry motorists, despite being arrested on several occasions, and ignoring a series of High Court orders banning her from blocking roads.
But it is believed that yesterday was the first time that her husband was photographed joining her in a protest.
Mr Lancaster, who lives with his wife in a £900,000 house in Grantchester, near Cambridge, was head of technology for BBC Worldwide for nine years before joining the Carbon Trust in 2005.
He spent eight years at the taxpayer-funded organisation, initially as Operations Director before becoming its director in China working more than 5,000 miles away in Beijing.
Tim Lancaster, who is a current director of a climate change research group due to take part in COP26, was pictured yesterday as he and his teacher wife Louise, 56, (both pictured) desperately tried to hold back a car during an Insulate Britain protest near Southwark Bridge
Mr Lancaster, who lives with his wife in a £900,000 house in Grantchester, near Cambridge, was head of technology for BBC Worldwide for nine years before joining the Carbon Trust in 2005
A notice revealing a High Court order on the home of Tim and Louise Lancaster
Mr Lancaster spent nearly three years in his role in China between 2008 and 2011, at a time when the one-party state was investing heavily in CO2-belching coal fired power stations to fuel its economic growth, and becoming notorious for human rights abuses.
He was responsible for setting up the organisation's first office in China and 'developed a joint venture with a Chinese state-owned company to invest in low carbon technologies', according to an online biography.
Mr Lancaster reveals his work in China for the Carbon Trust in his LinkedIn profile, saying he 'negotiated, setup and steered a venture capital company involving the Chinese and UK governments'.
He adds in his profile: 'When UK politics changed, I sourced a Singaporean partner, renegotiated the JV and doubled its valuation.
'Designed and led a number of projects that won Foreign Office funding. Presented on carbon emission reduction at the Shanghai Expo and at conferences across China. Provided newspaper and radio interviews.'
Mr Lancaster spent nearly three years in his role in China between 2008 and 2011, at a time when the one-party state was investing heavily in CO2-belching coal fired power stations to fuel its economic growth, and becoming notorious for human rights abuses
