CMIA Board Election Candidates’ statements

16th July 2018 by CMIA

The nomination period for CMIA Board election candidates for 2018 has now closed. CMIA members now have until midnight on Monday 30th July to cast votes.

There are four Board seats to be elected this year, therefore, each member company may cast up to four votes.

The candidates are listed below along with a short background statement. Their contact details are also included, should you wish to ask them any questions.

Your vote should be emailed to CMIA’s Treasurer, Alan Waterfield: [email protected] with the subject: CMIA Board Elections, stating the names of the four candidates you are voting for.

If a candidate is from your own organization you are welcome to vote for that individual.

The results of the election will be announced on Tuesday 31st July.

The full election process document is linked here and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Executive Director Margaret-Ann Splawn or the CMIA Executive Committee: Adrian Rimmer, Madeleine Rawlins and Lisa Walker. 

Candidates:

  • Andreas Gunst, Partner, DLA Piper
  • Anna Lehman, Independent Advisor, Climate Policy Advisory
  • Ben Bartle, Senior Climate Finance Consultant, E Co
  • Chris Dodwell, Director, Climate Change & Clean Growth, Ricardo Energy & Environment
  • Christina Elvers, Sustainability Consultant, PwC

Candidate Statements:

Andreas Gunst, Partner, DLA Piper 

I am a partner at DLA Piper, one of the largest international law firms, and I have been a board member since 2014. However, I have been active in CMIA (and its predecessor) since 2007. For a number of years, I chaired the EU ETS working group.

A significant part of my practice relates to climate change work relevant to CMIA’s role and objectives. For example, I have been advising the European Commission on the re-tendering of the common auction platform, GIZ on an energy efficiency fund for Ukaine to recycle energy subsidies into energy efficiency measures, the Renewable Energy Performace Platform (a donor fund of EIB, UNEP and BEIS) on result-based financings in Africa, and the IREC Foundation on the creation of the International Renewable Energy Certificate Standard.

I am also the chairman of legal working groups of industry organisations, including EFET and RECS International for the development of standard documentation for renewable energy transactions.

DLA Piper and I supported CMIA during the last term with dedication in a number of ways. Most will be familiar that we provided additional funding to CMIA for coordinating workshops on Brexit and EU ETS to bridge a funding gap.

Examples of how I could support CMIA in a new term as board member include attracting new members through Brexit EU ETS stakeholder engagement, developing standard climate finance documentation, cooperation with complimentary organisations like RECS International, and completing CMIA’s governance review.

I believe that the key in growing CMIA membership and strengthening its role as THE voice of the market and investors lies in the diversity of its board members. I am grateful to have provided my part during the last terms and would be honoured to serve another term, and would be grateful for your support.

*** 

Anna Lehman, Independent Advisor, Climate Policy Advisory

My ambition for this board seat is to keep working with the respective executive teams to develop and execute the new strategic plan with a view to position CMIA as a sought after think tank and industry meeting place in the sustainable and carbon finance arena. I hope to bring to fruition my fund raising experience with public, private and philanthropic donors to accelerate the organisation’s regrowth.

Anna is independent advisor working with public and private clients on energy and land use sector transformation. She has been active in the implementation of the Flexible Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol (CDM, JI, ETS) from the beginning and draws on more than 15 years working experience in international and European climate and land use and policy, of which eight years in high-level climate policy advisory. With a background in project origination and development in emerging markets, she focuses on identifying and removing investment barriers to help increase the deal flow and stimulate energy and food sector transformation globally. Prior to her career in climate and land use policy and investments, Anna worked as overseas development professional for various Governments. She holds an MSc in Agricultural Economics from Goettingen University, Germany, and has on-the-ground working experience across all five continents. Anna has been serving on the Board of London based Climate Markets and Investment Association since 2008.

***

Ben Bartle, Senior Climate Finance Consultant, E Co. Ltd

A Senior Climate Finance (CF) specialist, with 10+ years’ experience in project formulation, CF readiness, capacity development, country programming/consultation and strategy development. I am a team leader at E Co. – a boutique management consultancy specialized in project formulation. My clients include international financial institutions, development banks, multilateral/bilateral development agencies, private sector organisations, CSOs and NGOs across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific.

I am determined to be an agent of change in the world, to contribute to the mobilisation of the trillions of dollars required to transition to a climate-resilient, low-carbon, sustainable economy. I aim to always think deeper around complex issues; the market barriers that prevent private sector participation, about what CMIA needs, what funders, the private sector and other stakeholders are looking for and what delivers genuine long-term sustainable impact. I thrive in environments where great things are achieved by teams (as those I have worked with at CMIA know). Enhancing the performance and resourcefulness of teams, guiding the process of consensus building combined with astute technical knowledge are some of my key strengths.

I have thoroughly enjoyed proactive participation in the CMIA’s activities, including working groups, international conferences and GCF board meetings. I posses an understanding of nuanced issues surrounding climate change, CF and the private sector. I commit to bringing the following through my role on the board:

  • An in-depth technical understanding of what makes private sector markets tick enabling me to think more deeply about the complex social, technical, financial, political & economic interactions that affect our work
  • A natural networker who thrives on interaction with others, I commit to bringing my strong existing network and relationships with the CF funds (GCF, GEF) and project developer community. I know these skills will motivate others and lead to CMIA engagement with more financial players.
  • I am a key representative of E Co. at GCF board meetings and contributor to key knowledge products in the sector including E Co’s GCF insight reports and webinars. With a proven track record of shaping international CF policy, I am able to bring a high level of research informed policy recommendations to the GCF on behalf of CMIA.

In closing, there is nothing I enjoy more than working with people and collaborating on a vision for sustainability. I look forward to working with my peers at CMIA at a more committed level of engagement on CMIA’s board.

***

Chris Dodwell, Director, Climate Change and Clean Growth, Ricardo Energy & Environment

I am currently Director for Climate Change and Clean Growth at Ricardo Energy & Environment and have more than 20 years of experience working in the private and public sector on climate change and environmental issues. At Ricardo, I am responsible for coordinating our work on climate action across specialist teams working on energy, transport, waste and water projects.

My own projects now focus on climate finance and last year I helped develop the Climate Finance Accelerator, an innovative initiative aimed at catalysing the development of financing plans to achieve Paris Agreement targets by developing bankable low carbon projects across a range of sectors. Prior to joining Ricardo, I worked for 10 years at the heart of the UK Government’s work on climate change, including leading the UK implementation of the EU Emissions Trading System and the UK Delegation to the UNFCCC climate negotiations.

Since I joined the board in 2016, I have led CMIA’s engagement with the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and sought to coordinate efforts on the financing of the Paris Agreement. There is a clear demand for insights in these areas and CMIA is well placed to respond to that need. To achieve this, I plan to focus on three specific areas:

  1. Educate – raising Members’ awareness on ‘hot topics’ (e.g. UK carbon pricing post-Brexit, future of offsetting under the Paris Agreement, implementation of TCFD) and new funding opportunities;
  2. Collaborate – improved sharing of information on Members’ respective capabilities and new opportunities for collaboration under the CMIA banner;
  3. Communicate – CMIA being a more vocal participant in low carbon investment discussions and using observer seats and more proactively.

If re-elected, I commit to working with Board colleagues to put these principles into practice and delivering greater value from CMIA membership for all Members.

***

Christina Elvers, Sustainability Consultant, PwC

I am a sustainability consultant and lead PwC UK’s Sustainability and Climate Change work on sustainable land use and REDD+. In my time at PwC, I have focused on international development, having acted as the Head of the Advocacy Fund of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network and working closely with donors including the UK and Norway.

I have co-chaired CMIA’s Land-Use Forum for the last three years and during this time, the Forum has grown in active members who attend regular calls and webinars and contribute to papers. In addition, I have seen Forum members building stronger relationships and reaching out to each other outside of the Forum, working together to achieve the goals we all care about. I have also represented CMIA is as the private sector observer to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s Carbon Fund, a $900m outfit for REDD+ results-based payments.

As a new CMIA board member I plan to take the learnings from my role as co-chair and my professional experience to drive the association forward. The organisation is currently going through an exciting phase, attracting new members, reinventing itself and raising its profile. With regards to attracting new members, our outreach could be extended to supply chain companies and impact investors, and I would like to help develop a strategy for this. With the membership base growing, I am keen to help establish clear and robust governance processes understood by everybody from members to chairs to board members. Finally, I would like to help create more value for our members. This could include: encouraging Forums to produce more papers; creating synergies between Forums (e.g. land-use and GCF); and actively engaging with members to understand their needs.

Please visit my LinkedIn profile to learn more about my professional achievements.