Dr Matt Winning is a London-based Scottish comedian and environmental researcher who performs live climate change comedy and author of the book HOT MESS: What on Earth can we do about Climate Change?

Matt has a TEDx talk about the importance of using humour to discuss climate change, hosts the BBC Radio 4 show Net Zero: A Very British Problem, the podcast ‘Operation Earth’ and co-hosted Mark Watson and Matt Winning: Seriously, Though, The Planet on BBC Sounds.

A live comedy show of HOT MESS was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured the UK in 2022. This followed on the back of sold out runs of his  solo shows Filibuster,  Climate Strange and It’s The End Of The World As We Know It at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017/2018/2019. All of which were built as comedy lectures about climate change and received considerable critical acclaim.

He performs these climate change comedy shows (& selective excerpts) at science & comedy festivals, and charity & corporate events across the UK (and beyond if he can take a train). He has performed at COP28, the Royal Institution, Net Zero Festival, UK Schools Climate Assembly, Bluedot, BBC Climate Creatives festival and many, many others. Do get in touch if you think Matt would be an excellent addition to your event.

On TV Matt has appeared on BBC2’s Inside Culture and as the environmental correspondent on Dave’s Unspun with Matt Forde and in BBC Scotland TV shows The State of It and Scot Squad. On radio he’s been a panelist on BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and The Now Show and BBC Radio Scotland’s Breaking The News. Matt has written articles on climate change in Guardian, New Statesman, Scotsman, Metro and Sunday Post.

Matt has a PhD in climate change policy, with 15 years experince working on climate mitigation including recent work cited in the IPCC’s AR6, and is an honorary senior researcher at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources on various environmental issues.

Early in his comedy career Matt quickly gained a reputation as an exciting new act after winning the Hilarity Bites New Act of the Year in 2011 and appearing in the final of the BBC Radio 2 New Comedy Awards in 2012. He also reached the final of the Chortle Student Comedy Awards in 2010, as himself, and again in 2011, as a character.