The founder of solar power company Solarcentury has stepped down from the role of non-executive chairman to focus on climate change campaigning.

Dr Jeremy Leggett will continue as a board member for the company but will focus more on campaigning in the lead up to the United Nations’ climate change conference in Paris this December.

Dr Leggett said: “This is a make or break year for everyone who cares about abating climate change, promoting poverty alleviation and solar’s massive role in those missions. I feel a strong need, almost at the level of my DNA, to adjust my portfolio of activities to create more space for campaigning.”

His replacement Dr Philip Comberg, a former lawyer who joined the board of Solarcentury in November 2014, has “significant international solar experience”, said the company.