Paul Ekins has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of London and is Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy and Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources at University College London. From 2004-2019 he was a Co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre. He was a Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution from 2002-2008. He also has extensive experience consulting for business, government and international organisations. Paul Ekins’ academic work, published in numerous books, articles and scientific papers, focuses on the conditions and policies for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy. His book Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability: the Prospects for Green Growth appeared in 2000. He was also a Member of the European Resource Efficiency Platform and Vice-Chair of the previous European Environment Commissioner’s Expert Economists’ Group on resource efficiency. He is a member of UNEP’s International Resource Panel (IRP), and was the lead author of the IRP’s report on resource efficiency commissioned by the G7 governments and presented in Japan in 2016. He was a Co-Chair of UNEP’s sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6), which was presented to the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi in March 2019. In 1994 Paul Ekins received a Global 500 Award ‘for outstanding environmental achievement’ from the United Nations Environment Programme. In the UK New Year’s Honours List for 2015 he received an OBE for services to environmental policy.

Beverley is a business leader with a proven track record in early stage cleantech investments and commercialisation. She has over 30 years’ experience in the international energy sector and is a thought leader in the commercialisation of sustainable technologies. She specialises in accelerating innovation to market and scaling companies by providing strategic insights, developing industry partnerships and identifying novel ways to overcome barriers to entry. In 2006 she established CLT whose mission is “scaling transformative technologies for clean growth, sustaining our planet”. Her ambition is to create a better, sustainable world and she firmly believes that this will be achieved through innovation playing a transformative role in our economy.

She founded CLT in 2006, and has supported low carbon ventures in a wide range of sectors including power, transport, built environment, industry and waste. During her tenure at Shell she gained wide international business exposure and delivered the £500 million subsurface technology transfer programme to worldwide operations. Beverley was founder and Vice President at Shell Technology Ventures in this role she was instrumental in defining Shell’s technology venturing strategic approach. At QinetiQ she was Performance Director for the corporate venture division managing a portfolio of ventures (total value of £60 million), which went on to yield an IRR of 18%. She Chairs BEIS Energy Entrepreneurs Fund commercial panel which has invested £72 million into early stage, cleantech ventures. Beverley holds a degree in Mining Geology from University College Cardiff.

Reporting to the international business of Federated Hermes’ CEO, Leon is responsible for developing and directing the responsibility integration program across the group. This includes ensuring that investment teams are aware of and integrate ESG performance in investment decisions and that engagement is effectively incorporated alongside investment activities. In this role he also oversees and contributes to how the firm’s responsibility activities and performance are integrated into our client relationship management and reporting, the delivery of our corporate citizenship programme and the development of responsible structures and processes for the firm. He also leads a number of corporate and public policy engagements. Previously, Leon was responsible for the development and delivery of EOS at Federated Hermes’ global corporate and public policy engagement programme from 2012-2016 and acted as its commercial director from 2009-2012. Prior to that, Leon worked within the Hermes UK Large Cap Focus Fund for seven years, where he was responsible for executing the fund’s engagement programmes. He also has 12 years of strategy consulting and operational industry experience.

At Sustainable Ventures Susannah leads investment and accelerator activities for early-early stage start-ups. Susannah holds more than 20 years’ experience in start-up development and finance. Prior to Sustainable Ventures, Susannah held cleantech finance and operations roles at Tamar Energy, where she worked on anaerobic digestion projects, and Carbon Trust Enterprises, where she successfully created a low carbon property fund. Susannah has also worked as a venture capitalist for Impax Asset Management, a private equity fund dedicated to changing resource economics, and as an International Manager at HSBC Bank Plc. Susannah is passionate about business models which aim to maximise the use of funds and resources to create sustainable enterprises that achieve specific environmental or social outcome; she holds Board and Trustee positions for both start-ups and charities focused on environmental and social outcomes.