Elizabeth Mrema Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity United Nations Environment Programme

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. She has worked with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for over two decades and was the Director of Law Division at UNEP. Prior to that, she was Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division, in charge of coordination, operations and programme delivery. She also served as Executive Secretary of the UNEP/Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. Her work at UNEP has focused on development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, including multilateral environmental agreements at national, regional and international levels.

Emilie Mazzacurati Managing Director, Global Head of Climate Solutions Moody's ESG Solutions

Emilie Mazzacurati is MD - Global Head of Climate Solutions and oversees the climate solutions suite within Moody’s ESG Solutions Group, a new business unit formed to serve the growing global demand for ESG and climate analytics. Moody’s climate solutions provides climate risk screening for listed securities and real assets to help banks, financial institutions, corporations, and governments understand their exposure to the impacts of climate change, prepare for the transition to a zero carbon economy, and build resilience. Ms. Mazzacurati was the founder and CEO of Four Twenty Seven, a renowned climate risk analytics firm acquired by Moody’s in 2019.

Ms. Mazzacurati has published extensively on the impacts of climate change in financial markets, on climate risks disclosure (TCFD), on emissions trading, and on adaptation finance opportunities. She is a frequent public speaker and teaches at the University of California, Davis Executive MBA.

Previously, Ms. Mazzacurati was Head of Research at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, where she directed research and modeling on carbon pricing. She also served as a policy advisor to the Mayor of Paris on environmental policy. Emilie holds a Master’s of Political Science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and a Master’s of Public Policy from UC Berkeley.

 Ms. Mazzacurati is the recipient of multiple awards, including Top 100 People in Finance (2019), Berkeley Visionary Award (2016), and Cartier Women’s Initiative Award (2013). Four Twenty Seven was named 2019 Best Alternative Data Provider by Risk Magazine. Moody’s received the 2021 Chartis RiskTech100® Climate Risk Award and Environmental Finance’s 2021 Climate Risk Solutions of the year highlighting its commitment to integrating climate risk analytics into its world-class credit models.

Andrew Grant Vice President - Climate Solutions Moody's ESG Solutions

Andrew is a Vice President at Moody’s ESG Solutions, where he leads on methodologies for climate change products. He was previously Co-Head of Research at Carbon Tracker Initiative, a non-profit think tank that looks at the financial implications of the energy transition for investor audiences, and led oil and gas and mining sector coverage. He also acted as a Senior Advisor on climate change to Critical Resource, a boutique management consultancy specialising in managing stakeholder challenges. Andrew formerly worked at Barclays Natural Resources Investments, a private equity department of Barclays that committed capital across a range of commodities and related industries, and has prior experience in remuneration and corporate governance at New Bridge Street LLP. Andrew holds a degree in Chemistry & Law from the University of Bristol.

Juan M. Licari, Ph.D Managing Director, Predictive Analytics Moody's Analytics

Dr. Juan M. Licari is a managing director at Moody's Analytics. Juan and team-members are responsible for the research and analytics that enable our quantitative solutions. The team helps our customers solve complex business problems; adding value through data and analytics.

The analytics team specializes in solutions that help (i) understand, (ii) quantify, (iii) manage, and (iv) integrate risk. When it comes to specific methods to be selected the team has an open-mind approach; leveraging alternative tools ranging from traditional statistics & econometrics to machine learning & AI data-driven algorithms.

The solutions enabled by the team’s analytics are leveraged by our valued customers into core practices such as credit origination & pricing, stress testing & forecasting, optimal investment & portfolio management, ESG risk/opportunity quantification, capital & liquidity adequacy and cash-flow analysis.

A key value added to existing modelling methodologies comes from the explicit connection to the underlying economic cycle. This forward-looking philosophy allows decision-makers to plan for alternative scenarios and anticipate changes in credit and business conditions.

Juan is actively involved in communicating the team’s research and methodologies to the market. He is a public speaker at risk management events and economic conferences worldwide. Dr. Licari is a thought-leader in the risk management industry with frequently cited research publications.

As for his education, Dr. Licari holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. He is currently enrolled at the Executive MBA from the University of Cambridge, expecting to graduate in 2023. Juan is a proud Latino and ambassador for Moody’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives.

Swami Venkataraman, CFA Associate Managing Director, ESG Moody's Ratings

Swami Venkataraman, CFA, is an Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Environmental, Social and Governance group. He manages a team of analysts responsible for the development of ESG analytic tools, assessments and the integration of ESG considerations into Moody’s credit ratings and research. He is the primary spokesperson for Moody’s Investors Service on ESG and sustainable finance with regulators and investors. Before moving to the ESG team, Swami was a lead analyst in the North American utilities and infrastructure team, with rating committee chair responsibilities. Prior to Moody’s, he was a project and export finance banker with Standard Chartered bank in Asia.

Swami has broad credit and banking expertise in the power, clean energy and infrastructure sectors over the past 20 years. He has worked in New York, San Francisco, London, Mumbai and Mexico City. Swami is a CFA charter holder, with a B.Tech in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras and an M.B.A. in finance from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM),Calcutta.

Ben Brookes Vice President, Consulting Services RMS

Ben Brookes is the VP of Consulting Services at RMS. He leads the consulting team globally to help customers understand and quantify climate and catastrophe risk, embed RMS models, and develop best practices around risk understanding. Ben has held a variety of positions at RMS over almost two decades.

Ben holds a MEng in Engineering Mathematics from University of Bristol.

Jimmy Greer Vice President, ESG Outreach and Research Moody’s ESG Solutions

Jimmy Greer is Vice President - ESG Outreach & Research for Moody’s ESG Solutions Group (MESG). In this role, Jimmy leads ESG-related outreach and engagement activities with stakeholders and the creation of original research on a range of ESG issues.

Jimmy joined MESG from The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the global professional accountancy body. As Head of Sustainability at ACCA, he led activities across the organization to advance the role of finance professionals in engaging with ESG issues. In this capacity, he created award-winning research and engaged with policymakers around the world on topics including climate action, social impact measurement and management, business model innovation, the SDGs and ESG risk management.

Jimmy is a seasoned speaker and his work has featured in global media outlets.

Jimmy is a passionate advocate for social and environmental change. He holds an MSc. in Globalisation and Latin American Development from the School of Advanced Study at the University of London.

Martina Macpherson Head of ESG Strategy and General Management Committee Member ODDO BHF Asset Management & Private Assets

Martina Macpherson is Head of ESG Strategy and General Management Committee Member at ODDO BHF Asset Management & Private Assets. She is also President of the Network of Sustainable Financial Markets, a NextGen think tank in Sustainable Finance.

Martina has held several global leadership roles in ESG strategy, product development and innovation, including Senior Vice President, ESG, at Moody’s, Global Head of ESG Index Products and Research at S&P DJI, Managing Director of Sustainable Investments Partners Ltd. and Vice President of ESG Solutions at MSCI. Prior to this, she worked in (ESG) product, research and engagement roles at Insight Investment, F&C AM and at Deutsche Bank AG.

 She is involved in various academic research projects in the field, and a visiting fellow in sustainable finance at University of Zurich and Henley Business School. Martina has an MBA certificate in finance and business from LSBF / UK, and a MA in Law and Human Sciences from University of Frankfurt in Germany. She is a fellow member of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS) UK, a honorary doctoral fellow of the Institute for Certified Risk Management Professionals (ICRMP) UK, and an alumnus of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes).  

Martina has been a member of multiple sustainable finance associations and policy working groups at an EU and an international level. Currently, she is a co-chair of ICMA’s AMIC EU Regulatory / SFDR Working Group, a member of the European Law Institute's Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee and a founding member of the World Benchmarking Alliance and Finance for Tomorrow “Just Transition” Working Groups. In addition, she sits on the Enterprise Data Management Council’s Working Group on ESG Data, Innovation, Technology and Metrics.

She is a public speaker in sustainable investing and has co-authored a range of ESG and Fintech books, including “The AI Book” (Wiley, 2020), “Handbook on Species Extinction Accounting and Biodiversity” (Routledge, in print, 2021), and “ESG in Portfolio Construction” (RiskBooks, to be published in 2022).

Sabrina Muller Policy Analyst for Sustainable Finance Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics

Sabrina is a Policy Analyst at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, working on sustainable finance policy with a particular focus on the just transition in both developed and developing countries. A key strand of her work is the coordination of the UK’s Financing a Just Transition Alliance.

In her previous role, Sabrina was a Credit Analyst at Fitch Ratings where she was responsible for a portfolio of credit ratings in the infrastructure sector, and contributed to the implementation of Fitch’s ESG Relevance Scores. Sabrina also worked at the WWF and the GIZ in their respective sustainable finance teams.

Marie Diron Managing Director, Sovereign Risk Moody's Ratings

Marie Diron heads the Sovereign Risk Group for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group for Asia Pacific and EMEA. She is responsible for analytical teams covering more than 70 sovereign ratings, 15 Multilateral Development Banks and around 400 sub-sovereign ratings in about 30 countries. Marie is also a project owner of Moody’s Investors Service’s ESG scores, which were launched in early 2021.

Marie has worked as Moody’s lead sovereign analyst for a number of Asia Pacific credits, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. Marie has also worked in Moody’s Credit Policy, leading a number of macroeconomic analyses, including our regular Global Macro Outlook and other credit research work. Marie was previously Director at Oxford Economics, leading the company’s forecasting and scenario analysis service to financial sector and corporate clients, after a number of years at the European Central Bank and Brevan Howard LLP. Marie received a MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge and graduated from the Ecole Centrale Paris.