Jo Royle

Jo lives and breathes the ocean with over 20 years’ experience spearheading global marine programs and sailing ventures. A former trans-ocean sailing and racing skipper including expeditions to the Antarctic, Sundarbans and trans-Atlantic voyages, she founded Common Seas to design out marine plastic pollution and led the organisation as our CEO until March 2024.

Career highlights include leading The Pew Charitable Trusts’, Global Ocean Legacy campaign; securing the UK Government’s commitment to delivering the Blue Belt. Designing and building the Plastiki, a 60-foot catamaran made out of reclaimed plastic bottles which she skippered across the Pacific, successfully campaigning for the inclusion of marine-related topics in the National Curriculum. Collaborating with Prince Charles’s International Sustainability Unit to drive organisations across the plastics value chain to deliver a circular economy.

Jo's work has been featured by the BBC, National Geographic, Vogue, Time and TEDx. She was awarded the Geddes Environmental Medal and holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Society from University College London.