We are delighted to announce the judging panel for the inaugural IJGlobal ESG Awards that were launched last week.

To access the submissions portal, CLICK HERE…

Today we set the ball rolling with this first incarnation for the IJGlobal ESG Awards – reflecting developments across the infrastructure and energy community from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 – pulling together an eclectic group of industry professionals to take seats on the judging panel.

These are (in alphabetical order):

• Jemima Atkins – Allianz Global Investor, assistant vice-president, infra debt
• Simon Currie – Energy Estate, founder
• Edward Vaughan Dixon – Aviva Investors Real Assets, head of ESG
• Silke Goldberg – Herbert Smith Freehills, head of ESG
• Anurag Gupta – Sequoia Investment Management, chief risk officer
• Vanessa Havard-Williams – Linklaters, head of environment and climate change
• Chris Holmes – Foresight Group, partner
• Tallat Hussain – White & Case, environmental counsel
• Liam O’Keeffe – KEB Hana Bank, head of project finance
• Ana Carolina Oliveira – ING, head of sustainable finance for the Americas
• Sarah Roberts – INTECH Risk Management, president
• Patricia Rodrigues – GLIL Infrastructure, investment committee member
• Lisa Shaw – Vantage Infrastructure, investment director, infrastructure debt
• Simon Whistler – Principles for Responsible Investment, senior specialist

Jemima Atkins

Allianz Global investor

Jemima is well-known to IJGlobal having been voted Rising Star in the IJInvestor Awards 2020, proving to be a popular choice among the judging team based – among other reasons – for the impressive role she has played in AllianzGI on the ESG front.

She brings a welcome breath of (comparative) youth to the judging panel, but more than justifies her presence for the key role she has played in driving the ESG agenda within her organisation.

Jemima is an investment professional within the infrastructure debt team at Allianz Global Investors, having joined it in 2018.

She has made investments in various European infrastructure assets while – in tandem – creating the inaugural ESG integration framework for infrastructure debt.

Interestingly, she is currently working with other investment teams within Allianz Global Investors to roll out a standardised approach to ESG risk integration across the private markets platform.

In addition, Jemima is the investment-lead for implementing the EU Taxonomy and SFDR across private debt strategies, as well as being a member of the GRESB Infrastructure Debt Industry Working Group.

Prior to Allianz, Jemima worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Simon Currie

Energy Estate

IJGlobal’s relationship with Simon dates back to when he was a London-based partner at (then) Norton Rose – now Norton Rose Fulbright. Back then, he was way ahead of the curve, driving the renewable energy agenda… usually in a suit that was inordinately cooler than any of his colleagues.

We like Simon so much, we even wrote a profile on him back in September 2019!

A New Zealander by birth, Simon returned some years ago to the southern hemisphere with NRF to practice in Sydney. The years since have seen him switch sides of the table and launch an interesting business that seems to be doing rather well.

He is a principal and co-founder of Energy Estate which they describe as “an advisory firm and business accelerator, focused on driving the transformation of the global energy sector”.

Simon is renowned as a leader and pioneer in the transformation of the global energy sector with a focus on integrating the energy sector alongside other industries.

He is passionate about the digitisation of the industry, new and emerging technologies and the potential for creating jobs and economic growth through this approach.

Simon is also recognised for his innovative approach to realising the broader environmental, social and economic outcomes of all the projects he works on, and encouraging partners and other industry leaders to do the same.

Energy Estate’s track record includes many pioneering projects that have delivered broader benefits through community ownership schemes, mandated local content and local employment, Indigenous engagement and biodiversity outcomes.

Edward Dixon

Aviva Investors Real Assets

As head of ESG at Aviva Investors’ £46 billion real assets platform – encompassing real estate, infrastructure and private debt – Ed was a shoo-in for this panel.

He works closely with colleagues across the platform to lead the firm’s ESG strategy across investment, development and asset management, and he’s well qualified to do this given his 18 years’ experience in the industry

Prior to Aviva, he held the role of sustainability insights director at Landsec, joining the business in January 2016 to lead integration of the company's sustainability strategy through a £3.6 billion development pipeline as well as ESG strategy, research and governance functions.

His career also includes consulting, development and project management roles at UK-based construction company Mace, multi-national retailer Marks & Spencer and Simons Group – the well-established, development and design business, based in Lincoln and owned by the Hodgkinson family.

Ed is a critical thinker and believes in the power of organisational behaviour and leadership theory as a tool to address sustainability challenges.

Silke Goldberg

Herbert Smith Freehills

When it comes to power, there are few legal experts with the Europe-wide depth of experience that Silke brings to the table. She is even identified as “leading individual” in this space by Legal 500 and has the ESG credentials to match.

Silke is admitted to practice in Germany, England and France and has nearly 20 years‘ experience of working in the energy sector, 16 of which as a lawyer.

She has advised clients in relation to the design of emission trading regimes, energy transition projects and director liability in relation to climate change. She has also advised several governments in relation to the development of their national climate legislation.

Silke is the chair of the Legal Response International, a legal charity assisting least developed countries in relation to the UNFCCC negotiations.

On the ESG front, Silke chairs HSF’s global ESG practice and is currently a member of the advisory board of the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative at the University of Oxford and is a professor at Queen Mary University where she teaches international energy governance and regulation.

Silke advises in English, French, German, Dutch and Spanish.

Anurag Gupta

Sequoia Investment Management

It feels like IJGlobal has followed Anurag from Toronto to London, back to Toronto… and back to London again as we stay in touch whichever side of The Pond he happens to be on.

His last stop Canada-side was as partner and global sector head for power and infrastructure at KPMG, giving him a truly international feel within the Big 4.

However, he returned to the UK early last year (2020) to take up his new role as chief risk officer and chief operating officer at Sequoia Investment Management Company.

At Sequoia, he has primary responsibility for the risk management and compliance of its infrastructure debt funds. Further, he oversees all day-to-day operations in the fund.

Anurag has more than 20 years’ experience in project finance, infrastructure investment and appraisal, risk management, M&A, and financial advisory.

Over his career he has accrued extensive transactional experience across infrastructure sectors such as transport, power and utilities, renewables, TMT, and social infrastructure (PPPs) – among others.

Vanessa Havard-Williams 

Linklaters

There are few lawyers on the street that come with an ESG pedigree as impressive as that of Vanessa and when we started researching the ESG Awards back in 2018 (yes, it’s taken a while) she was repeatedly recommended as a powerhouse in this space.

Vanessa joined the steering committee that helped formulate the awards criteria… which we hope give entrants a more honed view of what they need to prove in their submission to win an award. It was during this process that it became abundantly apparent why she is so highly regarded.

She is the leader and a founding partner of Linklaters’ global environment and climate change practice, while also being co-lead and a founding partner of the firm’s risk and resilience and crisis management teams. Bringing those areas together, Vanessa leads Linklater’s global ESG practice.

Vanessa is recognised internationally in legal directories as an expert in the areas of human rights, environmental law and governance, for her intellect and gravitas, her breadth of experience in compliance and crisis management and the ability to help clients deal with complex issues. She also sits on the UK Government’s export credit advisory group as an advisor on climate, and ESG matters.

Vanessa has extensive experience advising on a broad range of environmental, health and safety, social and sustainability issues. She has particular expertise in environmental, social and security issues on energy and infrastructure projects. She also advises financial institutions on their development of sustainability policies, including the Equator Principles Association, IFIs and a number of commercial banks.

Chris Holmes

Foresight Group

A highly-regarded figure from the UK infrastructure community, Chris has had an interesting career that took in the roller-coaster ride that was the Green Investment Bank and its sale to Macquarie.

Quite apart from living along the road from the author of this piece… he was spied several times during lockdown taking exercise breaks with a quite charming spaniel, and can often be seen pegging it along the less fashionable outreaches of Richmond on a bike that looks worth stealing.

Chris joined Foresight Group in 2019 as a partner in the London office with a co-lead responsibility to the JLEN fund.

He has more than 23 years’ experience in infrastructure investment and financing in PFI/PPP and renewable energy projects.

Prior to Foresight, Chris worked at John Laing Capital Management as a director where he co-led the investment advisory services for JLEN.

Before joining JLCM, Chris was managing director and head of the waste and bioenergy team at the UK government’s Green Investment Bank (GIB) for four years – which was subsequently bought by Maquarie and re-branded to the Green Investment Group.

In addition, Chris worked for NIBC Bank for 12 years, lending, advising and structuring capital market solutions on a wide range of infrastructure and renewable transactions.

Tallat Hussain

White & Case

Tallat first came to IJGlobal’s attention in 2020 during some conversations where her forthright views on ESG struck a chord with the team and ensured her place on the inaugural IJGlobal ESG Awards judging panel.

She is senior environmental counsel in White & Case’s project development and finance group in London, covering UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Tallat advises corporate and financial clients in various sectors on regulatory compliance, the application of international environmental and social requirements such as the Equator Principles, IFC Performance Standards, UNSDGs and multiple reporting and disclosure initiatives.

Her ESG practice also covers business and human rights, sustainable finance solutions and climate change issues.

Liam O’Keeffe

KEB Hana Bank

Another old friend of IJGlobal from back in his Credit Agricole days in a leadership role in syndications – a relationship that continues through to today, now that he is heading the project finance division at KEB Hana Bank in London.

Liam has often cropped up on IJGlobal judging panels over the years and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the global infrastructure market has ensured repeat invitations – not to mention his charming Celtic routes.

Liam has more than 30 years of project finance experience and has been head of PF for the EMEA region at KEB Hana bank since 2019.

Prior to that, he was a managing director and head of special projects at Credit Agricole CIB. While there, he supported the City of London on its Green Finance Initiative and had a paper published on tidal power in Environmental Finance.

He was also a non-executive director of the bank’s pension trustee and spoke at conferences on the importance of pension funds adopting green investment strategies.

He has also worked at CIBC and KPMG and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Ana Carolina Oliveira

ING

Ana Carolina was recommended for the judging panel by IJGlobal editor Ila Patel who wrote a feature on ING last October and was impressed by her views on ESG.

Ana Carolina heads ING’s sustainable finance team covering the Americas region. She works with ING clients in providing structuring and advisory of sustainable finance solutions, to support them in accelerating their sustainability transition.

She also plays an integral role in supporting ING’s Terra approach, a commitment to steer its €600 billion lending book in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement to keep global warming to well-below two degrees.

Ana Carolina also represents ING in supporting industry discussions as a member of the executive committee of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) and sustainable-finance related working groups.

She has extensive experience in advising clients on capital structure and working capital optimization and previously has served as a director in ING’s healthcare sector group where she covered US large multinationals and was one of the founders of ING global healthcare platform.

Prior to that she was a senior credit officer on the New York credit risk team beginning in 2012, after working four years at ING‘s environmental and social risk team in Amsterdam, when she supported ING in steering the Equator Principles review.

Before that, Ana Carolina worked in The Netherlands and in Brazil.

Sarah Roberts

INTECH Risk Management

Sarah first appeared on the IJGlobal Awards 2020 judging panel for Europe, coming on a recommendation from Guy Dunkley who heads the IJ Americas subscriptions team out of New York.

Guy rightly identified that Sarah would bring a fresh insurance dimension to the judging process and this was borne out by the experience of having her on the panel earlier this year.

Sarah took an active role in working on Canada’s first P3 projects and these days splits her time between the INTECH offices in Toronto and Vienna.

She is heavily involved with designing and implementing insurance specifications in all major agreements forming part of large projects, including roads, bridges, tunnels, hospitals, schools, courthouses, and other major publicly funded projects.

Dr Patricia Rodrigues Jenner

GLIL IC and AERIF board

Looking back over the IJGlobal archive and Patricia crops up quite a few times. One of the key appearances in these pages was when we announced her appointment to the UK’s Green Investment Bank back in 2012.

Patricia is a real assets investment professional and non-executive board director with a breadth of experience across infrastructure, real estate and private equity.

Over the past two decades, Patricia has been an investment manager at Macquarie, multi-manager at Townsend and LP at the UK Government and PSP, leveraging her cross-sector perspectives to carve a unique path.

Patricia’s dual ambitions of investing well and seeking to protect the planet led her to join in 2011 the UK Government to help create the UK Green Investment Bank, the world’s first green bank. 

Patricia has been a non-exec director at AERIF plc since 2019, focused on governance and investing sustainably in European renewables advised by the manager Aquila.

She is an independent investment committee member at GLIL, funded by leading UK pension plans to invest in UK infrastructure. Patricia began her career in finance with Morgan Stanley.

Lisa Shaw

Vantage Infrastructure

The first mention of Lisa in the IJGlobal database dates back – impressively – to 2006 when we reported on her joining NIBC Bank from IKB. Those were the early days… the banking days.

More recent (the last decade) career developments have seen Lisa play a prominent role in a couple of infrastructure funds where ESG has played an increasingly central role.

Lisa joined Vantage Infrastructure in 2013 and has more than 20 years’ infrastructure debt experience. These days, she leads Vantage’s global asset management for the Debt business.

She is responsible for all of the debt team’s analytical processes including ESG, credit assessment, valuation and performance. Lisa is a member of Vantage’s debt investment committee and of the GRESB Infrastructure Debt Working Group.

Prior to joining Vantage, Lisa was associate director and head of portfolio management, infrastructure and renewables at NIBC Bank, where she ran a book of more than 120 debt transactions across Europe.

She also worked for the infrastructure teams at IKB Deutsche Industriebank and Abbey National (now Santander).

Simon Whistler

Principles for Responsible Investment

When it came to pulling together a panel for the ESG awards, we reached out to a few contacts for a recommendation for an organisation that plays a key role in this space… and Simon was singled out as the person to talk to.

By way of a complement, it was not just the organisation that was identified as a good one to have on the panel… he was identified as “the right person” within the right organisation.

Simon joined PRI in June 2018 and leads the organisation’s work on real assets.

He works with real assets investors to support their understanding and integration of responsible investment in their investment processes.

His most recent work has included projects on developing guidance for real assets investors on implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and looking at the role of investors in relation to the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Prior to joining the PRI, Simon worked for more than 10 years at Control Risks where he led a team providing political and social risk advisory support to investors and corporate clients in Latin America. This often involved carrying out pre- or post-transaction DD for major investments and operations, as well as assessing clients’ social risk management and governance frameworks and performance.