About John
BA, LLB
John W.H. Denton AO is the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He is a global business leader and international advisor on policy and a legal expert on international trade and investment.
In 2022, John was appointed by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General to represent the global private sector on the Steering Committee of the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance.
John serves on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General’s Business Advisory Group and the World Health Organization (WHO) Foundation Strategic Advisory Group. He is also a member of the IEA Global Commission on People-Centered Clean Energy Transitions and the OECD Blue Dot Network Executive Consultation Group.
In 2024, he was appointed Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of Business Interlocutors of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).
John is a board member of the UN Global Compact, the UN Business and Human Security Initiative, and the UNDP Sustainable Development Goals Impact Investing Steering Group. He is also a member of the Global Leadership Council of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited (GenU).
John is a founding member of the Business 20 (B20), of which he co-chairs the Finance and Infrastructure Task Force, Co-founder of the Australia–China CEO Roundtable, and Patron of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Australia.
He is Chair of the ICC Merchants of Peace Foundation and the Moeller Institute Advisory Board at the University of Cambridge. He is a board member of IFM Global Investors, Veracity, the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB), and the World Trade Board by Finastra.
A former diplomat, John co-led the Australian Government’s 2012 White Paper on “Australia in the Asian Century” and previously chaired the APEC Finance and Economics Working Group. Prior to his appointment as ICC Secretary General, John served on the ICC Executive Board from 2015-2018.
He was also Partner and CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, an Australian independent law firm, for two decades.
In 2015, John was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the business community, the arts and the rights of refugees, including as a founder of Human Rights Watch (Australia) and Teach for Australia.
John is a member of the IFM Board Responsible Investment and Sustainability Committee.