RI People & Appointments, May 28: London pension authority’s RI officer Clements to leave

Leanne Clements, Responsible Investment Officer at the £4.6bn (€5.38bn) London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA), has been made redundant and will leave the fund at the end of the month. The LPFA has been one of the UK’s most active responsible investment advocates and the role of responsible investment officer was created in 2009. Clements took up the post in November 2011 after the departure of Aled Jones, who subsequently became Head of Responsible Investment at Mercer, the investment consultant. Prior to joining the LPFA, Clements spent two years with PIRC in London as Engagement Consultant and Governance Researcher. The LPFA Responsible Investment Officer role involved giving strategic advice on ESG issues to the Investment Director, Chief Executive, Investment Committee and the Board. The LPFA said it remains committed to responsible investment, but will no longer have a dedicated ESG staff member. It said it believed it had now embedded ESG policies, systems and processes within its investment team and its relationships with external asset managers. Clements is understood to be considering opportunities in the RI space.

Philippe Desfossés, CEO of ERAFP, the French Public Service Additional Pension Scheme and Craig Mackenzie, Head of Sustainability at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, have been appointed to the board of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). The IIGCC represents investors and asset managers worth €7.5trn.

UN Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador Pavan Sukhdev has been awarded the 2013 Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development, in recognition for his role as the study leader of “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” (TEEB), a global initiative focused on drawing attention to the economic benefits of biodiversity. The SEK1m prize is funded by the City of Gothenburg together with other bodies including the AP2 fund, Folksam, Handelsbanken and Nordea.

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón has joined the board of the World Resources Institute, the Washington-based environmental think tank. In office Calderón prioritised renewable energy and started the biggest energy-saving lightbulb exchange program in the world – as well as hosting the UN climate talks in Cancún in 2010.A group of former staffers at US-based corporate governance researcher GMI Ratings and its predecessor firms have formed their own company. The new firm, BHJ Partners, comprises Drew Buckley, Paul Hodgson and John Jarrett. Buckley was Director of Sales, the Americas at GMI, having been Sales and Marketing Officer at The Corporate Library. Hodgson, who departed at the end of 2012, was GMI’s Chief Research Analyst and media spokesperson. Jarrett was Director of Global Research at GMI having been Director of Research at GovernanceMetrics. He is currently Executive Director of the not-for-profit Chairmen’s Forum, which supports independent board leadership in North American companies.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance is seeking a head of its Tokyo research team. “The successful candidate will analyse the energy market in Japan, manage a small team of analysts, represent the company at conferences, directly support clients with requests and work closely with the commercial team to grow the company in Japan,” a job ad states. Other roles on offer at BNEF include a German-speaking solar industry analyst.

Climate Change Capital, the low carbon investment manager that’s now part of commodities firm Bunge, is seeking a Fund Accountant within its finance team. Reporting to the Finance Director, the role will be responsible for being an integral part of the accounting and fund administration function of a Carbon Finance fund which manages carbon emission reduction projects internationally.

Campaign group the Financial Transparency Coalition (formerly the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development) is seeking an EU Advocacy leader to head up its campaign on the European Union’s review of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The role will be hosted by the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) in Brussels, with a salary of up to €48,025.