2022 Speakers

As Global Director, Finance in the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation (FCI) Global Practice, Jean leads the World Bank’s work to promote the development of sound, stable, sustainable, and inclusive financial systems. His global team of experts works with governments and partners to make financial systems more resilient, to open access to finance for poor and vulnerable people, to support economic activity and to develop financial markets. Their strategy and its implementation emphasize development of digital financial services, addressing climate change and sustainable finance and creating opportunities for women by bolstering their financial inclusion.

Previously, Jean led the World Bank’s Financial Stability and Integrity global team, which assists countries in building and restoring robust and resilient financial systems operating with integrity, transparency and in compliance with international standards and recommendations. He has extensive experience working on financial sector issues, notably in the Middle East and North Africa.

Jessica Smith (BES, MA, MCom finance in progress) joined UNEP FI in August 2020 to lead the ecosystems workstream. For the past 7 years she has directed a consultancy firm undertaking environmental finance project development and evaluation, and leading secretariats for the Equator Principles Association (environmental and social risk in Project Finance for 100+ financial institutions) and the Cross-Sector Biodiversity Initiative (applying IFC performance standard 6 on biodiversity in oil & gas, mining, and finance). Her key areas of interest are mobilising private and blended finance for ecosystems (SDGs 14 and 15) and managing biodiversity-related risks in banking and investment.

Judson Berkey is a Managing Director in the Chief Sustainability Office at UBS based in Zurich where he has worked since 2003 on global risk, regulatory and compliance topics. He currently focuses on sustainable finance policy and regulation including engagement with policymakers and standard setters. He graduated from Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia and is on the board of ECOFACT. He currently chairs the Institute of International Finance Sustainable Finance Working Group and is a member of the Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

Kaylash Patel is a Senior Principal in the Analytics Product Management team at Qontigo, responsible for key initiatives that include Qontigo’s sustainability-linked analytics.

Kaylash Patel has over 20 years’ experience of delivering trading and risk management solutions across buy and sell-side institutions around the world to meet internal and regulatory requirements.

Previously, as Head of Institutional Business Strategy for EMEA at MSCI, Kaylash led initiatives to provide reporting and pre-trade risk compliance services for Solvency II, UCITS III/IV, AIFMD and MiFiD. Kaylash was also the Market Risk Lead at Refinitiv for the firm’s Fundamental Review of The Trading Book (FRTB) solution suite.

Kaylash began his career assisting in the development of a trading system for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, and also helped establish the EMEA presence for a social media-based startup.

Kaylash holds a Master of Physics from University College, Oxford.

Kurt Morriesen is responsible for LGIM’s Investment Stewardship division.

Kurt joined LGIM in 2022 from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where he held the title of Senior Advisor, Sustainable Investment and SDGs. At the UNDP, Kurt was responsible for accelerating and scaling up SDG-aligned investments and ESG strategies targeting emerging markets and supporting asset managers to integrate the UN-SDGs and ESG factors into their investment processes.

Prior to that, he was a Senior Manager of Impact Investments and SDGs at the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), GIZ, and private firms specialised in sustainable investments in Africa, South Asia and Latin America.

Kurt holds a Bachelor of Law, a master’s degree in Local Development (focusing on environment and climate change), an MBA by Hult International Business School and programme on negotiation by Harvard University.

Ms. Draeger chairs the Firm’s Responsible Investing Solutions Group, is a principal of the Firm, and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.  As a Senior Portfolio Manager, Ms. Draeger works closely with clients globally to ensure their portfolios reflect the investment outlook of Los Angeles Capital’s quantitative model. She also collaborates with the Research team and CIO to help manage research projects, distills portfolio observations to the investment team and clients, and ensures optimal implementation of the Firm’s model in investment strategies. Additionally, she oversees the Firm’s ESG activities utilizing ESG criteria as a tool to improve investment returns, better manage risk and meet client’s unique investment objectives through customized ESG solutions. Ms. Draeger has helped to shape the Firm’s responsible investing, active ownership, and climate policies and leads the effort to thoughtfully integrate ESG within the Firm’s multi-factor framework. Ms. Draeger has served as a panelist on ESG at various investment industry conferences.

Prior to joining Los Angeles Capital, Ms. Draeger started her career as an Analyst in the Investment Management division of First Republic Bank.  Ms. Draeger is a CFA charterholder, holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco and a BA from Boston College where she served as captain of the women’s soccer team.

Laura is a trained lawyer, communicator, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience leading organizations towards a low-carbon and climate-adapted future. Through her work at the intersection of climate change law, policy, and financial risk, she has been a respected advisor to leading North American financial institutions, as well as local and international governments. She is a leading voice on the legal imperative to adapt to climate change and the need to bring climate into the core of business considerations.

Laura has been a delegate to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), attending annual COP meetings since 2007. Her journey as a communicator about climate change began in 2008 when she participated in Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Training program and learned to present the watershed film, “An Inconvenient Truth”.

She is a published author and frequently writes for both academic and business media, contributing to numerous research and policy papers on legal liability related to climate change adaptation, the use of existing legal mechanisms to address climate change, and the role of markets and flexibility mechanisms in driving emissions reductions. As a respected speaker on the move to the low-carbon economy and implications for investors, she has addressed audiences representing over $1 Trillion in assets under management (AUM). In 2015 she co-founded and became CEO of Mantle314, now Manifest Climate, advising large private and public sector clients globally.

Laura started her legal career with a prominent Bay Street law firm before founding the first law firm in Canada focused on climate change in 2009.  She has also worked in the strategic research division of the Ontario Ministry of Finance and as co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Law and International Relations. She is co-founder of the Climate Change Lawyers Network, a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) committee on Environmental Law, a member of the University of Toronto’s Environmental Finance Advisory Committee and sits on the boards of the Clean Air Partnership and Shift Action.

She has a Bachelor of  Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo and a Juris Doctor (law) degree from the University of Toronto.

Marina Petroleka is Global Head of ESG Research in Fitch Ratings’ Sustainable Finance division, based in London. In her role, Marina leads a global team of research analysts undertaking detailed research and credit-relevant analysis on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) themes and cross-sector trends, as well as supporting and providing input for ESG-related research from all Fitch’s different analytical group areas.

Previously Marina was EMEA Regional Credit Officer at the Credit Policy Group, with a focus on Research. Her main responsibilities were leading cross sector, thematic credit research to ensure comprehensive analysis and awareness on major credit risks, across asset classes, but with a focus on Corporates.

Marina joined Fitch Ratings in April 2020 from Fitch Solutions where she was Global Head of Industry Research since 2016.

Previously, she led BMI Research’s Energy and Infrastructure team for nearly a decade. She joined BMI Research (acquired by Fitch Group in 2014) in 2007 as an analyst in the Infrastructure team.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in War Studies, and an M.A. in International Security and Development, both from King’s College, University of London.

Marion Maloney joined the Environment Agency Pension Fund (England) in 2018 as Head of Responsible Investment & Governance. The Fund has been recognised as a global leader on responsible investment by the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and it has won a series of awards for its approach in managing climate risk.

Marion is co-author of a report on on nvestor expectations for managing physical risk, with Kelly Christodoulou of the AustralianSuper Fund for the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

Previous to joining the Pension Fund, Marion was a senior adviser on climate change and energy issues in the Environment Agency.