The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has revealed the first six start-ups that will be backed by its member companies as part of the first ever Innovandi ‘Open Challenge’ in the race to ‘net zero’ by 2050.

Sylvain Vanston is Executive Director, Climate Investment Research at MSCI since November 2021. In this capacity he helps formulate a research agenda for MSCI’s climate-related content through collaboration with a wide range of teams and works with strategic clients globally on issues of climate risk reporting, risk management, portfolio management, TCFD, GFANZ, climate metrics, biodiversity, etc.

Previously, he worked at the AXA Group where he was in charge of generating new policy developments and integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity-related factors into the AXA Group’s operational, underwriting and investment processes (e.g. ESG integration, Impact Investing, divestment, shareholder engagement, underwriting guidelines, coalition building, green products, etc). He also led AXA’s work within the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, TCFD and TNFD.

His academic background is in International Relations, with degrees from Sciences Po Paris, London School of Economics, and Kent University. He started his career in Public Relations and business finance, followed by SRI ratings and analysis.

Bryony leads the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC), which forms part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF).  IDC is a £200m programme with £261m match funding from industry, designed to deploy low carbon technologies and enabling infrastructure in heavily industrialised regions of the UK.

Bryony was previously Head of Technology at Costain, with responsibility for the identification and development of new technology. She was a member of BEIS’ CCUS Cost Challenge Task Force, a Director of the CCSA (where she co-chaired the Technical Working Group) and has previously chaired the Independent Advisory Panel for the UKCCSRC.

Truman Semans is Chief Executive Officer of OS-Climate (OS-C), a part of the Linux Foundation (LF). OS-Climate a breakthrough Open Source solution for climate-aligned finance, investing, and financial regulation. Using the proven Linux Foundation approach for community-driven projects to solve complex challenges, OS-Climate is a non-profit data and modeling platform that enables investment decisionmakers to run scenario-based predictive analysis for accurately forecasting and pricing risk and opportunity related to physical climate impacts and economic transition. Responding to the universal call for more rigorous, transparent, and affordable climate data, OS-C’s Data Commons will provide corporate and other climate related data as a public good.

Previously, Truman was CEO of Element Capital Advisors, helping family offices and foundations integrate climate and ESG into their portfolios. He was a Partner of strategy consultancy GreenOrder, helping clients including private equity firms, Morgan Stanley, Google, GM, GE, Duke Energy, SABIC, and DuPont drive growth and profitability through investments in environmental innovation, resource efficiency, and clean technology. Truman led the Pew Business Environmental Leadership Council, and he co-founded the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) and the U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (USPREF). Truman consulted with McKinsey & Co., served as the U.S. Treasury Department International Economist for global environment, and was the financial mechanisms lead on the U.S. Climate Change Negotiating Team.

He has an MBA and BA from Duke University and a Masters in International Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He serves on the Investment Committee of the National Wildlife Federation and the Advisory Board of Coast Capital, LLC.

Anna is Group Head of Environment for Tesco. At Tesco, Anna is responsible for delivery of the Group’s global climate change strategy and net zero commitment, alongside other agendas including restoring nature in food production. Anna is also responsible for Tesco’s flagship partnership with WWF. The cornerstone of the partnership focuses around halving the environmental impact of the average UK shopper’s basket.

Prior to joining Tesco, Anna was Head of Sustainability for Nestlé UK & Ireland, where she led the development and roll-out of an integrated sustainability strategy across the multi-category business. Before moving in-house, Anna spent 10 years in sustainability consultancy in Europe and Asia.