Who’s moved and to where
Appointment of the month
Shaun Kingsbury has been appointed as chief executive of the UK Green Investment Bank. Kingsbury will work alongside the bank’s chairman, Lord Smith of Kelvin, and deputy chairman Sir Adrian Montague, who were appointed by UK business secretary Vince Cable in May 2012. Kingsbury joins from private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners, where he was responsible for its European activities. He is a long-time renewable energy investor and adviser, having been a founding partner of Pulsar Energy Capital and an adviser to 3i on a number of renewable energy transaction opportunities in Europe. Kingsbury also set up and leads the Low Carbon Finance Group in London.
Global architecture, planning and design consultancy RTKL has appointed its first chief sustainability officer, Lance Hosey. Hosey is a former director with William McDonough & Partners, a sustainable design firm.
Hosey started work as a teenager, during his summer holidays, where he held a variety of jobs – including bagging groceries at a supermarket. “All of these were in a blue-collar neighbourhood in Houston, Texas, and they all taught me that every job has value to the community,” he remembers. “My first ‘real’ job was a different story. I worked with a famous architect who seemed less than interested in the value our work offers communities. Early in my career, this taught me to question the purposes of our work: Are we doing good?”
After a decade of working for architects, he went to work for Bill McDonough, one of the pioneers of sustainable design. “This was the first time I felt that my work could make a meaningful difference in the state of things, the condition of the world,” he reflects. “I felt a kind of optimism and excitement I’d never felt about my work.” Hosey believes that architecture combines the best of all worlds: “It’s creative, technical, artistic, scientific, intuitive, and rational all at once,” he says.
Hosey is excited about the challenges his new role will bring. “We are developing a new initiative we’re calling Performance-Driven Design,” he explains. “In order not just to improve our work, but also to set a new standard about how architecture can benefit communities, cultures, and the environment.”
Suzanne McCarthy has been appointed as the new chair of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). She was formerly the UK’s immigration services commissioner and prior to that she was CEO of the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Starting her career as a solicitor, McCarthy worked in litigation and taught law at the University of Manchester. “My legal foundation allowed me to expand into other areas, particularly consumer protection and regulation,” she explains. “These have been the backbone of my work in various sectors – health, financial services and immigration.”
Her move into this sector was sparked by a lifelong interest in social justice. “This was reflected in my BA and LLM subjects, as well those I chose as part of my MSc in international development and project management,” she says.
At the ETI, McCarthy will be helping to deliver a new programme approach, which focuses on a series of global supply chains. “The aim is to drive even greater practical collaboration between businesses, trade unions and NGOs, for the benefit of workers within these supply chains,” she explains. “As chair and a member of ETI’s board, I will be supporting the organisation to successfully deliver this programme.
The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) has appointed John Arnold as executive director. Arnold was formerly the head of partnerships at the Fairtrade Foundation.
Arnold started out in a chartered surveying practice in the City of London specialising in commercial property. “Before that I had a number of teenager and student jobs, from working in a poultry processing factory to being a church verger,” he says.
His upbringing made an impact on his chosen career path. “Being brought up in a vicarage family means ethics and social impact are in my DNA,” he explains. “Working with progressive businesses that clearly showed their commitment; with stakeholder groups; to promoting partnerships and implementing ‘best business practice’ has been hugely satisfying.” He also spent two years in Malawi with Voluntary Service Overseas.
In his new role, Arnold will lead the ECCR team in developing research on company performance, training and supporting individual ECCR members and liaising with church and other institutional investors to co-ordinate effective shareholder action. “There is a vital role to help the church community and its members use their influence as investors, for example through pension funds, to bring positive change in business practice,” he explains. “Working closely with other faith groups is also a personal priority.”
Sustainable growth investor Bridges Ventures has hired two associates, Pam Wei Liu and David Cockcroft, to join the firm’s sustainable growth funds team. Wei Liu was previously an associate in Citigroup’s investment bank. Cockcroft joins from JP Morgan, where he most recently worked in the bank’s financial sponsors group.
Laurence D “Larry” Fink, chairman, CEO and founder of BlackRock, has been elected to serve on Robin Hood’s board of directors. Robin Hood is New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organisation, which finds, funds and creates programmes and schools for families in New York’s poorest neighbourhoods. Fink joins other board members, including Paul Tudor Jones, chairman and CEO of Tudor Investment Corporation; Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defence Fund; and Geoffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE.
Tarja Halonen, former president of Finland, has been appointed as the chair of Helsinki Sustainability Centre, a non-for-profit company promoting global sustainable development.
Zhang Xinsheng is the new president of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Zhang is co-founder and executive chairman of Eco-Forum Global, an independent organisation committed to building consensus among all stakeholders for development of a green and sustainable future. He is also president of the China Education Association for International Exchange; vice-president of the International University Sports Federation; a board member of the International Institute for Education Planning, Unesco; and member of the 11th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Marie-Claire Daveu is the new chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs at PPR (owners of Gucci and Puma). Daveu previously held the position of principal private secretary to the French minister of ecology, sustainable development, transport and housing and has extensive experience in the field of sustainable development.
Michael Diaz has joined the board of Switzerland-based sustainable bank Alternative Bank Schweiz. Diaz previously worked at Credit Suisse and at sustainability rating agency Inrate.
First Solar a global provider of comprehensive photovoltaic solar systems, has appointed Bruce Yung as managing director and vice-president of business development for China. Yung has 25 years’ experience in the energy industry and was most recently managing director of China Renewable Energy Investment Limited.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of a new United Nations envoy to spearhead efforts to achieve sustainable energy. Kandeh Yumkella, currently the director-general of the UN Industrial Development Organisation and chair of the umbrella group known as UN-Energy, will serve as his special representative for Sustainable Energy for All. Yumkella will also serve as chief executive of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative.
Lindsay Walker is the first sustainability manager at Humber University, Toronto. Walker was previously sustainability and innovation manager at Turtle Island Recycling Corporation.
Terry A’Hearn has been appointed to chief executive officer of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. A’Hearn previously worked for the Environment Protection Authority in the Australian State of Victoria for 17 years in a range of executive and senior management roles. For the past two years he has been based in London, working for the international environmental consultancy WSP Environment and Energy.
Sean Flannery, former CIO, Americas, of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), has joined the Climate Bonds advisory panel. The Climate Bonds initiative is an investor-focused not-for-profit organisation working to mobilise capital for climate change solutions.
Centro, the transport authority for England’s west midlands, has appointed Conrad Jones as its new head of sustainability. Jones was formerly the company’s head of marketing and communications.
The board of Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities has announced the appointment of Lord (Paul) Myners as a non-executive director. Lord Myners is a former chairman of Land Securities and Marks & Spencer.
With thanks to Miriam Heale, Allen & York