In brief
Appointment signals critical need for investment industry to implement trusted sustainability impact standards and create effective partnerships to reach a 1.5C world.
London, 2 December 2021
Just Climate, an investment business dedicated to climate-led investing to address the net zero challenge at scale, today announced the appointment of Clara Barby as Senior Partner.
In her role, which she will assume in January 2022, Clara will lead Just Climate’s aim to institutionalise climate-led investing as a capital allocation imperative across the investment management industry. Clara will chair Just Climate’s Executive Committee and together with colleagues develop and deliver business strategy. Clara’s expertise in defining and measuring investment impact – and building consensus on standards across public and private actors globally – will be among her top areas of focus.
Established by Generation Investment Management and launched in October 2021, Just Climate is founded on the belief that, such is the scale and urgency of the climate crisis, capital going into climate solutions must now go deeper and broader. Just Climate is a new business whose mission is to work in partnership to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (1.5C), by directing and scaling capital towards the most impactful climate solutions and supporting capital markets to incorporate climate and just transition considerations into capital allocation decisions. For Just Climate, climate-led investing is an investment approach that seeks to catalyse timely positive climate impact at scale, while aiming to deliver appropriate risk-adjusted returns.
David Blood, Chairman of Just Climate and Senior Partner of Generation Investment Management, 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.”
Clara Barby, Senior Partner of Just Climate, 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.”
Clara joins from the Impact Management Project (IMP) where she was Chief Executive and, in 2021, then led the IFRS Foundation’s work to establish the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), as announced at COP26. Clara’s public interest work with the IMP was made possible through a secondment from her role as a Partner at Bridges Fund Management Ltd., where she led the firm’s sustainable and impact strategies across fund types. Clara began her career investing in affordable clean energy solutions in South Asia and East Africa.
Just Climate’s team integrates experienced Generation colleagues with a new set of fully dedicated team members. Former U.S. Vice President and Generation Investment Management Chairman Al Gore chairs Just Climate’s Climate Impact Advisory Group. David Blood, Senior Partner of Generation, is Chairman of Just Climate. Colin le Duc, a Founding Partner of Generation, serves as Vice Chairman. Shaun Kingsbury CBE, formerly CEO of UK Green Investment Bank, has joined Just Climate as Chief Investment Officer. The Management Committee also comprises Puja Jain, Partner at Generation, and former Generation team members Vivian Bertseka and Sebastian Cameron, who serve as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel respectively.
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Media contact
Richard Campbell
[email protected]
+44 7775 784 933
About Just Climate
Just Climate is an investment business dedicated to climate-led investing to address the net zero challenge at scale. Our ambition is to identify and invest in high-impact solutions for climate mitigation, as well as to catalyse and multiply capital to scale them. We seek to harness the power of institutional capital to accelerate, and to set a new standard for, climate-led investing.
For further information, please visit www.justclimate.com or ‘Just Climate’ on LinkedIn.
About Generation Investment Management
Generation Investment Management LLP is dedicated to long-term investing, integrated sustainability research and client alignment. It is an independent, private, owner-managed partnership established in 2004 and headquartered in London, with a US presence in San Francisco, with more than $36 billion of assets under management (as of 30 September 2021).
For further information, please visit www.generationim.com.