Aubrey Meyer was born in Bradford and grew up in South Africa. He first studied music, which lead to a very successful orchestral career, including playing Viola in the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1980s. It was while searching for a subject for a musical that he was inspired to join the UK Green Party and then to co-found the Global Commons Institute (GCI) in London. He is a contributor to Feasta - the Dublin-based foundation for the economics of sustainability.