The independent panel of judges was unanimous in its decision for the IJGlobal ESG Rising Start 2022, voting for Arash Mojabi – London-based UK lead for sustainable finance at ING Bank.

Those who had previously had dealing with the Rising Star had nothing but positive things to say about him.

One of the judges for IJGlobal ESG Awards 2022 said: “Arash was one of the first lenders to have approached us about sustainable finance and there was clear innovation and interest in the teach-ins he delivered on this topic and – from recent catch-ups – understanding the progress made in further enhancing ESG into ING’s risk processes.”

Another judge said: “I entirely support the choice of Arash for the IJGlobal ESG Rising Star Award for the work he has been doing at ING and beyond that as a committee chair for the IPFA’s Future Leaders' Network.”

One more judge added: “ING's involvement in financing sustainability has had a positive impact on infrastructure development and Arash’s role has clearly been central to that strategy. He is an excellent choice for this award.”

Arash Mojabi

Arash’s career has evolved interestingly from cutting his teeth in infrastructure and energy at Arup, then moving on to ING in the autumn of 2014 where he has risen steadily up the ranks, earlier this year being promoted to UK sustainable finance lead.

He has driven extensive and proactive client engagement with infrastructure funds and companies through teach-ins on sustainable finance products and their implementation – building a reputation as a well-informed lender whose primary goal is to drive the ESG agenda.

Arash has participated in industry events and platforms speaking on ESG and climate risks. He was a guest speaker on an Eversheds Sutherland podcast on Sustainable Finance and Infrastructure (February 2022) and a panel speaker on the IPFA event ESG and Climate Risks in the UK: Feeling the Heat! (October 2021).

Beyond that, he is committee chair for IPFA’s Future Leaders' Network where he is actively integrating sustainability and ESG themes into the events schedule. Arash is also on IPFA’s training faculty, delivering a module on financing infrastructure corporates, where he has integrated sustainable financing considerations.

The ING years

Arash has been a sustainable finance champion in ING for the last 5 years, actively working to increase the bank’s lending to sustainable activities, in addition to driving the integration of ESG and climate risks into ING’s risk processes.

He has played a key role in increasing the knowledge of ESG themes within the infrastructure team globally and held several teach-ins on sustainable finance solutions and how to engage with clients on the topic.

This resulted in significant success for ING’s infrastructure finance franchise where, in 2021, it established itself as a leading sustainable finance provider in the European infrastructure market.

Reflecting Arash’s success within the infrastructure space, he was promoted to UK lead for sustainable finance (vice president) in 2022, supporting ING’s UK-based teams across all sectors in addition to having a specific infrastructure coverage role across the EMEA region.

Arash has been instrumental in cementing ING’s infra finance team as one of the leading players in the sustainable finance space. Sustainable finance assignments led by Arash include:

• Portsmouth Water (April 2021) – sustainability-linked financing package to fund the first major reservoir in the UK since the 1980s. This is also one of the first structures globally (certainly in the infra space) to have a KPI linked to biodiversity, an area of increasing focus for the infra sector
• HICL (May 2021) – sustainability-linked RCF for the UK-listed infrastructure fund linked to performance of 5 KPIs across E, S and G factors
• JLEN (May 2021) – sustainability-linked RCF for the UK-listed infrastructure fund with 3 KPIs across E, S and G factors
• Anglian Water (June 2021) – sustainability-linked term facilities at the Holdco level and supported on the development of the sustainability-linked framework for their inaugural Midco sustainability-linked bond
• SEEIT (September 2021) – involved in the structuring of the £145 million RCF for the UK-listed energy efficiency fund
• Sequoia (November 2021) – sustainability-linked RCF for the UK-listed infra debt fund. This is the first sustainability-linked loan globally to be structured around an externally verified inhouse ESG score

Arash is currently leading several ongoing sustainable financing mandates in the infrastructure sector.

Picture added after IJGlobal ESG Awards 2022 (left-to-right): IJGlobal editor Ila Patel; Arash Mojabi; IJGlobal editorial director Angus Leslie Melville.