Catherine joined ShareAction as Chief Executive in 2008. ShareAction coordinates civil society activism to promote responsible investment across Europe. She is a board member of the Scott Trust, owner of The Guardian, serving on the Scott Trust’s investment committee. She also serves on HM Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce. She was a Member Nominated Trustee of The Pensions Trust for five years until Spring 2013. Catherine was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2014.

Emma Howard Boyd is the Chair of the Environment Agency, an Ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation. Emma serves on a number of boards and advisory committees which include Menhaden PLC, The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, and the European Climate Foundation.

She has worked in financial services for over 25 years, in corporate finance and fund management. As Director of Stewardship at Jupiter Asset Management until July 2014, Emma was integral to the development of their expertise in the corporate governance and sustainability fields.

Dr Fatih Birol has served as Executive Director of the International Energy Agency since September 2015. He was re-elected in January 2018 for a second four-year term, which began in September 2019. Under his leadership, the IEA has undertaken its first comprehensive modernisation programme since its creation in 1974. This effort focuses on three pillars: opening the doors of the IEA to include major emerging countries, such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa who have joined the IEA Family, thus increasing its share of global energy demand from 38% to almost 75%; broadening the IEA’s security mandate to natural gas and electricity as well as oil; and making the IEA the global hub for clean energy technologies and energy efficiency.

Nominated by the Chilean presidency and the United Nations as the High Level Climate Champion for the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) to the United Nations Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), to mobilize climate action in nonstate actors around the world, as well as advise the presidency of COP25. Prior to this, co-founded and ran TriCiclos, one of the more recognized Latin American companies in the circular economy and recycling. Inspired by 10 years running traditional food businesses where witnessed the waste generated by the private sector. Aimed to offer a transformative service that would help the environment while also being financially sustainable. Using business and entrepreneurial skills, redirected efforts to ideals and passion for sustainability and the environment. Launched Triciclos in Chile, then moved it to Brazil and now operates in 13 countries in Latin America, where their mission is to foster new designs for a world without waste. TriCiclos was also the first company to become a certified B corporation outside North America. Gonzalo also cofounded Sistema B and is a member of the board at BLab global.

Sir John Armitt:

• is Chairman of the National Express Group and City & Guilds, Deputy Chairman of the Berkeley Group and a member of the Board of Transport for London
• is Senior Vice President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
• is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Civil Engineers and City & Guilds of London Institute
• has received honorary doctorates from the universities of Portsmouth, Birmingham, Reading and Warwick
• was awarded the CBE in 1996 for his contribution to the rail industry and a knighthood in 2012 for services to engineering and construction

John is a writer, thought-leader and business strategist, a serial entrepreneur and, at heart, an environmentalist. He is the Founder and Chief Pollinator at Volans, a certified B Corporation driving market-based solutions to the future’s greatest challenges. John is also Honorary Chairman of SustainAbility, and sits on an A-Z of some 20 boards and advisory boards. He has written 19 books, and his latest is co-authored with Jochen Zeitz, former CEO of PUMA and now co-chair, with Sir Richard Branson, of The B Team. The book, entitled “The Breakthrough Challenge: 10 Ways to Connect Today’s Profits with Tomorrow’s Bottom Line” comes full circle from John’s 1997 “Cannibals with Forks”, where he first introduced the Triple Bottom Line concept.

Professor John Loughhead CB OBE FREng FTSE FIMechE FIET has extensive international experience in industry, academia and government. John has recently been appointed Chair of the Mission Innovation Steering Committee. Mission Innovation is the primary intergovernmental forum to progress clean energy innovation and was launched at COP21 in Paris. He is the Chief Scientific Adviser for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is the most experienced technical expert in BEIS. As a Director General, he can be called upon for independent, impartial assurance on scientific rigour. His professional career has been predominantly in industrial research and development for the electronics and electrical power industries.

Nicholas has over 25 years of experience in Corporate Finance and extensive experience in the energy sector, both in an advisory capacity and as an investor in a number of solar projects across the UK.

Nicholas started his career at Hambros Bank, where he was made a director of the corporate finance department, a position he held until leaving for BNP in 1998, where he established the corporate finance business for BNP in London. He was appointed head of BNP Paribas Corporate Finance in the UK after the merger of BNP and Paribas in 2000. BNP Paribas corporate finance provided advice to a wide range of companies on transactions and funding including leading utilities, commercial and industrial companies and also worked with leading private equity firms across Europe. After leaving BNPP, Nicholas held several consultancy mandates in the infrastructure, energy, utilities and transportation sectors.

Nick Mabey is Chief Executive of E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism) a non-profit European organisation dedicated to accelerating the transition to sustainable development. In addition to his management role, Nick works on European climate and energy policy, climate diplomacy and foreign policy, and the security implications of climate change and resource scarcity. His previous roles included senior advisor in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit leading work on national and international policy areas, including energy and climate change, and Head of Economics and Development at WWF-UK. In 2017 Nick was appointed by The Mayor of London to the London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC).

Simon Howard joined UKSIF as Chief Executive in May 2013. Simon is a former Chief Investment Officer who has over twenty years of investment management experience.

During a City career that started in 1990, he has been Group Chief Investment Officer at Liverpool Victoria, Head of Investments at Friends Provident and Managing Director at 3i Asset Management. Prior to joining UKSIF, Simon was Head of Sustainable Financial Markets at the charity Forum for the Future.

He was the EDF Group Senior Executive Vice President in charge of the International Division from 2015 to 2017. He started his career in 1993 in the Treasury Department of De Agostini in Novara (Italy), moved to Management Consulting with KPMG Corporate Finance and from 1996 in McKinsey&Co., Milan (Italy), where he served various Financial Institutions, Industrial and Energy clients. In 2004 he joined Edison SpA in Milan (Italy) as Head of Strategy, where he subsequently covered the responsibility of Director of Planning, Control and IT. In November 2009 he moved to Constellation Energy Nuclear Group in Baltimore (USA) as Chief Financial Officer. Simone Rossi joined EDF in the UK in April 2011 as Chief Financial Officer. Simone Rossi is married with 2 daughters, has a Degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University, Milan, and a Degree in Clarinet from Istituto Puccini, Gallarate (Italy).

Tom is a Founding Partner of Global Optimism and works across the portfolio of engagements and initiatives. He has spent 20 years working at the intersections of international diplomacy, energy policy and climate change in business, non-profit, financial services and international institutions. His latest book “The Future We Choose” with Christiana Figueres will be published in 2020.