RI People Moves April 16: EU’s DG Clima recruits 65 people for new Innovation Fund

The Expert Group on the Innovation Fund of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) is recruiting 65 members.
The Fund was etablished by Directive 2018/410 of 14 March 2018 to enhance cost-effective emission reductions and low-carbon investments. It amends the “ETS Directive” of 2003 which introduced the EU Emissions Trading System. The Fund’s aim is to finance low-carbon innovation in energy intensive industrial sectors. That includes technologies dealing with environmentally safe carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCU and CCS), as well as renewable energy and storage. The Expert Group will advise the Commission on the implementation of the Fund and benefits maximisation through crowding-in of public and private investments and knowledge sharing. The deadline to send application is 10 May and the first meeting is scheduled for 28 May.
*Ingrid Holmes
* has joined Hermes Investment Management as Associate Director – Policy. RI reported last week that Holmes had left her previous role as Director and Member of the Board at E3G, the independent climate change think tank.
Kate Farrar has been appointed CEO of the A$11bn Queensland based super fund, LGIAsuper. She takes over from David Todd, who will continue in his role as Chief Investment Officer, a position he has held alongside the CEO role since 2006. Farrar was previously Senior Implementation Leader at global consultant, McKinsey & Company.
The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) has announced a change in the leadership of its Board of Directors with Tokunboh Ishmael, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Alitheia Capital, taking over as Chair and Ziad Oueslati, Managing Director and Co-Founding Partner at AfricInvest Group, as Vice Chair. Alitheia Capital works on channeling private equity investments into businesses and real estate assets to enhance access to finance, energy and housing for the excluded at the base of the economic pyramid. AfricInvest Group is the first private equity fund management company in the Maghreb and is one of the leading players in Sub-Saharan Africa.Canada has announced the creation of an Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, to be chaired by Tiff Macklem, Dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and former Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada. The Expert Panel will consult members of the business community about the opportunities associated with sustainable finance. The Expert Panel will also explore the opportunities and challenges for companies facing voluntary standards for corporate disclosure of the financial risks associated with climate change.
The Expert Panel builds on the work of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCDF), led by Michael Bloomberg, established by the Financial Stability Board, and chaired by Governor Carney. The Task Force is recognized worldwide for its ground-breaking work to develop voluntary recommendations on climate-related information that companies can disclose to help investors, lenders, and others make sound financial decisions. Other members of the Expert Panel are: Andy Chisholm, member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Bank of Canada, Kim Thomassin, Executive Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Secretariat, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Barbara Zvan, Chief Risk and Strategy Officer, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The four panel members will complete their work and provide recommendations to the federal government by the fall of 2018.
The Financial Reporting Council, the UK accounting, governance and actuarial regulator, is setting up a new Investor Advisory Group to engage with representatives from across the whole investment chain. The FRC is seeking representatives from asset managers, pension funds, sell-side analysts, ratings agencies, proxy advisors and sovereign wealth funds communities.
The deadline to submit nominations is 18th May 2018 and Jen Sisson, FRC’s Senior Investor Engagement Manager, is leading the work. Link