Sir Anthony Russell Brenton, KCMG (born 1 January 1950) is a former British diplomat.

Brenton was educated at Peter Symonds' School,[1] a former direct grant grammar school for boys (which subsequently became Peter Symonds College) in Winchester, Hampshire, followed by Queens' College, Cambridge,[2] where he studied Mathematics.

Brenton took a sabbatical at Harvard University to write The Greening of Machiavelli – The History of International Environmental Politics after setting up and leading (1990–92) the Foreign Office unit that negotiated for the 1992 Rio "Earth Summit", and in particular the first global agreement on climate change.

From 1994–98 he worked as a Counsellor in the British Embassy in Moscow, responsible for the British aid programme to Russia, analysis of the Russian economy, and UK policy towards Russia in the major international economic fields.

Within the sphere of his responsibilities was the policy towards the UN, human rights, the environment and international economy and development.