Climate solutions-focused investment business announced the appointment of Clara Barby, CEO of the Impact Management Project, as Senior Partner, responsible for leading the firm’s efforts to institutionalise climate-led investing as a capital allocation imperative across the investment management industry. Barby will join Just Climate in January 2022.
Founded in October by Generation Investment Management, a sustainability-focused investment firm chaired by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Just Climate aims to deliver impact by focusing on investments in projects and companies in hard to abate sectors and geographies, while simultaneously delivering appropriate risk-adjusted returns. The fund targets catalytic climate solutions in sectors including energy, transport, industry and buildings and natural climate solutions for food, agriculture and oceans.
Just Climate is Chaired by Generation IM’s Senior Partner David Blood, with Al Gore serving as Chairman of the Climate Impact Advisory Group.
Blood said:
“We are delighted that Clara is joining Just Climate. Impact is at the heart of what we aim to do at Just Climate, from how we identify investment opportunities, to how we measure success. Clara brings significant expertise in understanding the relevance of impact in capital allocation as well as building teams. Clara’s effectiveness in bringing together different stakeholders will be invaluable to Just Climate which believes that working with others across the investment management sector, businesses and governments is the best way to deliver on its mission. Clara joins a team of excellent colleagues at Just Climate and Generation who share a commitment to achieving transformational change.”
Barby led Impact Management Project (IMP), a five-year initiative aimed at facilitating a consensus around impact measurement, assessment and reporting. IMP’s facilitation role concluded this year, followed by the launch las month of the Impact Management Platform. In 2021, Barby led the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation’s (IFRS) work to establish the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which was officially launched in November at COP26. She also served since 2010 as a Partner at Bridges Fund Management, leading the firm’s sustainable and impact strategies.
Barby will chair Just Climate’s Executive Committee, and help develop and deliver business strategy.
Barby said:
“Capital markets have a vital role to play in financing the transition to a 1.5C world – and their future also depends on its success. I am joining Just Climate because now is a pivotal moment for evolving how capital markets incorporate impact within a risk and return framework. Rigorous climate-led investing has an important place in institutional portfolios, but we need a platform that can invest at scale in the hardest to de-carbonise sectors and more challenging geographies. This will take partnerships across the private and public sectors, and a commitment to define success and measure progress with stakeholders most affected by the transition. I am delighted to join exceptional colleagues at Just Climate to grow a business that can deliver on this opportunity.”
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