Peter Taylor (born 24 January 1948) is a UK environmentalist, public activist on issues ranging from nuclear safety,[1][2] ocean pollution,[3] biodiversity strategies,[4] renewable energy and climate change.

[6] Born in January 1948, Taylor was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School in Glamorgan, Wales from where he won an Open Scholarship to St Catherine's College, Oxford University.

[7] After six years of what he describes in his autobiography Shiva's Rainbow as an adventurer and explorer, including a solo vehicle-crossing of the Sahara and climbing the Eiger, he returned to Oxford to study Social Anthropology under the linguistic anthropologist Edwin Ardener.

He also sat on a research advisory group on nuclear waste management set up by the Department of Environment – resigning when he felt the UK Government were not allowing time for detailed comparative assessment of the options.

[12] The work of PERG potentially influenced the limiting of the development of nuclear fuel reprocessing and the 'plutonium economy', particularly in Germany,[13] cleaning up discharges to the Irish Sea,[14] altering perceptions of the risks of ionising radiation and the consequences of reactor meltdowns.

[14][15][18] This group worked collectively and individually behind the scenes in several topics of important developments – with Jackson Davis helping to lay the foundation for the Framework Climate Convention,[19] and in Clean Production Strategies and the Precautionary Principle[20] with Tim Jackson (now Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey); and further work on energy strategies with Gordon Thompson who now leads the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts (ref IRSS).

[22] Chris Baines, a British conservationist, described Taylor's book as important and brilliantly capturing the changing mood of conservation [23] and Peter Marren gave it a one-page spread in The Independent.

[28] In his autobiography, Taylor mentions studying with the yogic master Babaji, training with the founder of rebirthing Leonard Orr, and practising as a breathing therapist and teacher of meditation – in which he now has an international reputation.

[32] Taylor warns in his recent presentations, and in his autobiography, that humanity faces a crisis of consciousness and that much of the enthusiasm and caring for the Earth, especially among young people, is being channeled into collusion with undemocratic corporate power structures in the banking world.