Clare Townley is a Todmorden-based eco-poet, creative communicator, gizmologist and former green engineering business MD who uses humour, poetry and visual storytelling to make complex ideas land. She has won multiple environmental and sustainability awards.
Her recent work includes the Retrofits of Laughter series and related poems – a growing body of illustrated, humorous work exploring carbon, renewable energy, retrofit, greenwashing and everyday climate contradictions. Through satire, wordplay, analogy and lived experience, Clare translates technical concepts such as Scope 3 emissions, fabric-first retrofit and demand smoothing into language people actually remember.
Alongside climate-focused work, Clare writes and performs a wider range of poetry rooted in language, observation and social insight. This includes playful pieces on wordplay and punctuation, satirical poems about marketing and sales culture, reflective work inspired by grief, rivers and landscapes, and poems exploring equality, identity and belonging including ‘Prefer Not to Say’ – instantly recognisable to anyone in the sector.
Clare performs regularly at sustainability, arts and community events. She was invited to perform at the Flight Free UK national end-of-year event, and is speaking in January 2026 at the Green Economy Networking Brunch (in partnership with WYCA). She was recently shortlisted for a Calderdale Community Spirit Award (Sustainability).
Her creative practice has also been shaped by a varied background spanning community politics, higher education, and disability advocacy, as well as personal experiences of loss and resilience.
Passionate about inclusion, accessibility and creative education, Clare is happy to tailor delivery for different audiences and access needs. She is open to commissions, collaborations and speaking opportunities where values align, and happy to tailor work for different audiences.
“We maxed out our earth like a credit card scheme,
Three planets a year – time to wake from this dream.”
Happy to discuss other fun creative ideas.
