Polar Explorer, Environmental Campaigner, Founder of 90 North Foundation, Arctic Mission Director, Expedition Leader, Author

Pen Hadow motivates and inspires audiences by combining a business background with exceptional team leadership experience and world-class, ground-breaking achievements in the Arctic and Antarctic. A leading explorer of the Arctic Ocean, he is now dedicated to supporting the United Nations process that aims to advance protection for the wildlife and ecosystem of the international waters around the North Pole. Pen leads the not-for-profit 90 North Foundation, which advocates for an international agreement to create a protected area for the central Arctic Ocean, and he also directs the annual scientific research and public engagement programme, Arctic Mission, which supports this work.

The 90 North Foundation introduced a significant new perspective on the Arctic’s diminishing sea ice. The organisation argues that the environmental issue is not only about the geophysics of melting sea ice, but about the potentially catastrophic loss of a globally unique floating ice-reef ecosystem that supports some of the world’s most iconic species. In 2017, Arctic Mission sailed two 50-foot yachts into the North Pole’s international waters, the first non-icebreaking vessels in history to do so. This expedition demonstrated the increasing accessibility of these waters to commercial shipping, fishing, tourism and mining, and highlighted the growing human threat to wildlife already stressed by shrinking sea-ice habitat.

Previously, Pen Hadow led the multi-award-winning £7.5 million international scientific research programme, the Catlin Arctic Survey (2007–2012), which investigated the rates, causes and impacts of the Arctic’s rapidly melting sea ice. In May 2003, he became the first person in history to sledge alone from Canada to the North Geographic Pole without any outside assistance, a feat of endurance often compared to climbing Everest solo without oxygen. It took three attempts and fifteen years of dedication to achieve this goal, and it established him as one of the world’s leading polar explorers.

Pen Hadow has written several books, including the best-seller Solo, self-filmed a National Geographic documentary, presented a series on BBC Radio 4, and contributed to numerous television documentaries and books about adventure and exploration. He is an honorary patron of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the British Exploring Society, the Scientific Exploration Society and The Explorers Club (UK Chapter). He founded The Polar Travel Company in 1995, opening up Arctic and Antarctic expeditions to a wider range of people, including individuals with disabilities and first-time explorers, and he remains a prominent and respected voice in environmental and climate change discussions as well as an established and popular conference speaker.

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