Tom is an environmental policy adviser to Rio Tinto plc and a visiting professor at Imperial College.

He is a statutory advisor to the British Government on biodiversity; and co-chairman of the Anglo-German Environment Forum. He was recently appointed an honorary professor in the Faculty of Laws at University College, London and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Since 1991 he has been a member of the Advisory Committee to the Business in the Environment Task Team. He is on the Advisory Council of the Earth Centre and advises a number of other environmental organisations. He is a founding member of the Council of the Institute of Environmental Management and served as Green Alliance's director from 1982-91.

He currently serves on the American Chemistry Council’s Leadership Dialogue and on the advisory board for Conservation International’s Centre for Environmental Leadership in Business in the US.

In 1993 he was appointed to United Nations Environment Programme's Global 500 roll of honour. In 1997, he was appointed CBE for services to the environment.