HSBC announced today a series of senior appointments, forming part of the bank’s effort to build its new Sustainability Center of Excellence, according to an internal memo seen by ESG Today. The new appointments include Justin Wu as Co- Head of Climate Change Asia Pacific, Milo Sjardin, as Managing Director, Head of Climate Analytics and Susannah Fitzherbert-Brockholes as Director, Sustainable Finance.

Wu joins the firm after 15 years at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, where he most recently served as Head of Asia Pacific, working with governments, finance, energy and technology companies on business strategies for a net zero world. In his new role, Wu will work with the firm’s clients on transition plans and on the creation of transition- and green finance-related opportunities, and lead engagement with clients and other stakeholders on net zero.

According to the memo, HSBC is currently in the process of recruiting another Co-Head of Climate Change Asia Pacific.

Sjardin will lead the building and expansion of HSBC’s in-house climate analytics capabilities, both for the firm and for clients, and will also lead a new climate analytics hub in HSBC’s Sustainability Center of Excellence, focused on next gen model development for the firm’s data and analytics needs across its Transition to Net Zero strategic pillar, including financed emissions, physical and transition climate risk, and net zero analytics. Sjardin joins from Bloomberg LP, where he served as Director of Research for Bloomberg Intelligence, with responsibilities including driving thought leadership on topics such as ESG and Thematic Investing, and commercializing BI’s analysis reports. He also worked as COO for BloombergNEF before his role at Bloomberg LP.

Fitzherbert-Brockholes joins HSBC after more than 9 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers UK, most recently as Assistant Director for PwC’s Sustainability Consulting practice, advising government, businesses and financial institutions on climate risks, net zero transition, and emerging policies and regulation. In her new role, she will focus on the development of HSBC’s net zero transition plan, and on operationalizing the bank’s financed emissions and net zero commitments. HSBC set a target in 2020 to align its financed emissions to net zero by 2050.

In a social media post announcing the new appointments, HSBC Group Chief Sustainability Officer Celine Herweijer said:

“One amazing part of my role is to bring fantastic climate and sustainability leaders into HSBC as we build a brainstrust – a new Sustainability Centre of Excellence – at the heart of the Bank.

“We want to couple our front line bankers with deep experts in the new technologies and sector transitions – from energy, to industry, to supply chains – critical to helping us and our customers build a net zero future.”

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