Alison Cairns is Director of Food Systems Transformation, Food & Nature Program, World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This includes leading the Advocacy & Policy, WBCSD representative for the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) and Food Systems Dialogue (FSD) for the Food & Nature program.

Cairns joined WBCSD from Unilever where she was global advocacy and partnerships director for sustainable agriculture and food security. There she led on the food and nutrition agenda, and was a member of the UK Government Rio+20 Food Security Task Group.

Previously, she has held a number of corporate, public policy, and campaigning roles, including head of government affairs with the Royal College of Nursing; campaigner with Oxfam to advance the Make Trade Fair initiative; and consultant for Politics International.

Cairns participates in a number of multi-stakeholder boards and panels: the Bridge, SDG2 Advocacy Hub; Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems High Level Stakeholder Group; Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Food-Health Advisory Committee; and Agrobiodiversity Index Advisory Panel.