Be the change you want to see – Dan Brown

In profile: Dan Brown

Dan Brown, Ashurst’s Global Co-Chair Energy Industry, grew up in a little mining town in Central Queensland with a population of 8,000. At school, many of his report cards and parent-teacher discussions noted that he was easily distracted or distracted others. Attending law school straight out of high school was never really on the cards. So, like many of his schoolmates, he left to start work at a local coal mine. After working for five years as an electrician in the open-cut mine and underground, he saw the light – literally and figuratively – and left for Brisbane to study law.

He got his first break in his legal career on his way out the door of a mediocre job interview when a photograph of a bucket-wheel caught his eye. He stopped to ask the interviewing partner why it was there. The partner said that, tragically, the bucket-wheel had collapsed, which led to the significant matter he was then working on. The partner asked Dan how he knew what it was, so Dan explained he had regularly fixed that bucket-wheel when he was working at the mine. The partner called him back into the meeting room, along with the other lawyers working on the matter.

Dan spent many years working as part of a legal team that helped build big coal- and gas-fired power stations throughout Australia and Asia. He then worked with a "first-mover" fledgling renewables fund in Singapore, which developed renewable assets in nine countries across Asia. That fund went on to become, for a time, the largest renewables independent power producer in Asia.

Fast forward to today, and Dan – together with Co-Chair Michael Burns – is setting the strategy for how Ashurst works within the rapidly transforming energy market. In serving clients, colleagues and communities in this space, Dan is steadfastly purpose-driven: “There’s nothing more important from a global perspective than decarbonising our planet. Not only is it the right thing to do, it can also make good commercial sense.”

Powering the change towards energy transition

Dan is a co-sponsor of Ashurst’s latest Powering Change report, which shares global insights into the current energy market, the pace of change and areas of future opportunity.

The report reflects the responses of more than 2,000 executives and managers across the G20 who make energy investment decisions in their businesses. As Dan points out: “The insights in the report capture the views of those most qualified to comment. These views can support others to start informed internal conversations about key aspects of decarbonisation and the energy sector, which could help them reinforce or reevaluate their energy market strategy.”

The report reveals that the most popular investment technology, targeted by nearly three-quarters of respondents, is solar. While Dan agrees that solar has a role to play, he also says “I think the global supply chain issues that are associated with solar and the desire for firm green electrons mean that technologies like pumped hydro, battery storage, offshore and onshore wind, and nuclear have the potential to drive the deeper change.”

More broadly, while the report indicates that the sector shows great promise globally, in order for it to become a reality Dan believes there needs to be greater alignment and collaboration across borders to amplify the decarbonisation imperative: “It’s going to take a global village to achieve the energy transition, because our economies are so closely interlinked. While countries have taken many different approaches to supporting and incentivising decarbonisation, there are existing legislative and policy arrangements – such as the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – that could support deeper decarbonisation.”

Remembering where you come from

Asked what advice he would give his 19-year-old self, Dan replied “Never, ever forget where you came from. And never underestimate the value of every life experience you have. Everything we do in life and work is all about people – if we cannot connect, build real trust and confidence and demonstrate real value and relevance, it really doesn't matter what we profess to know.”

“I started working as an apprentice electrician in a coal mine. I’m now at the pointy end of supporting clients to outpace change in decarbonising our global and local economies,” he added. “If I can make the transition, anyone can!”

To find out more, download Powering Change and follow Dan on LinkedIn for future updates.