William Todts is the Executive Director of T&E, responsible for steering the organisation's strategy to achieve emissions-free mobility. He joined T&E in 2011, working first on cars and then as T&E's freight director. He led successful efforts to have CO2 emissions from trucks regulated for the first time in Europe. More recently, he oversaw T&E's work on the European Green Deal, the world's most ambitious climate laws, including the 2035 car CO2 standards, fuel mandates for aviation and carbon pricing for shipping.
William has been T&E's executive director since 2017. In that time, the T&E team has grown from 28 to more than 120 staff, and offices have been established in six European capitals. In this time, T&E has expanded its areas of work to address innovative topics such as the role of contrails in aviation's overall climate impact, green steel, grids and battery supply chains. William sits on Volkswagen Group’s Sustainability Council, an independent advisory body to the German carmaker, as well as Madre Brava, a sustainable food NGO. In 2023, William was named as the top climate influencer in POLITICO's annual ranking of the 28 power players behind Europe’s green agenda.
William's training as an historian, provides perspectives that daily inform his work in driving the deep structural and societal changes needed for a zero carbon future. He is married with two young children, a life change that resulted in the arrival of his first car - an EV, of course. He still prefers cycling over driving, especially on a much loved Brompton.
