Head of UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative leaves after a year in post

Charles Anderson, head of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), the membership organisation of over 230 banks, insurers and fund managers, has left the post after just a year in the role.
Anderson joined UNEPFI in February 2014 after a 37-year career in financial services, 21 of which were in banking, mainly in the UK and US, and life insurance businesses and joint ventures in Asia. His last post before UNEPFI was as CEO at Sovereign, New Zealand’s largest life and health insurance business. It is not known if Anderson has taken a position elsewhere.
UNEP FI said that following Anderson’s departure it is working to identify a permanent replacement. It said the vacancy is advertised on the UN’s job portal: inspira.un.org
In the interim, Eric Usher has taken over as Acting Head of UNEP FI. Usher currently heads the Finance Unit within the Energy Branch of the United Nations Environment Programme that focuses on public-private instruments for financing climate infrastructure and new approaches to delivering cleaner energy services in regions without access.UNEP FI has a small staff of 20, mostly in Geneva, but with a broad remit covering the financial services industry globally.
Anderson was involved in the early drafting of the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), a UNEP FI initiative, which celebrates its third anniversary this year.
At UNEP FI, Anderson focused the organisation on a couple of macro issues: the green economy and fair development. On the former it has been involved in major work on energy efficiency, notably in property assets, and the potential for investors.
For further details on the post on the post on UN Inspira site, after first registering and then accessing the site, you will be directed to the Inspira landing page. In the ‘Basic Job Search’ box, click on the ‘Advanced Search’ tab. On the next page, type 40328 in the ‘Job Opening ID’ line, the second from the top. This will bring up the job description and the application process.
Link to July 2014 RI interview with Charles Anderson