Sustainable Finance
Catherine Jackson and Céline Bak are recognized as global leaders in Sustainable Finance.
Céline Bak is a global advisor, convener and speaker on sustainable finance. She combines a sustained engagement with the most senior figures in the private sector and global governance with a deep understanding of the management and board capacity needed to develop and prosecute business strategies aimed at addressing both the physical risks brought about by climate change and the strategic challenges resulting from the carbon constraints needed to keep global warming within 1.5°C. Called on frequently by leading print and broadcast outlets around the world for her ability to identify what is essential and relevant to a variety of audiences, she garnered over 65 million earned media impressions in 2017 alone.
Authored Leveraging Sustainable Finance in Canada (IISD) to establish a three plan to implement the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosure for all actors in the financial system including supervisors, regulators, assurers and auditors, the central bank and the ministry of finance as well as financial sector accredited agencies. This comprehensive analysis included identifying the legal precedents in the G20 and G7 and the legislative changes to reduce climate-related risk in the financial system.
Convened and chaired the meeting to establish a strategy for the implementation of recommendations by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Risk Disclosure as mandated by the Financial Stability Board and the G20. Included senior representatives from Canada’s largest pension funds, financial supervisory authorities, the Bank of Canada and international representatives from China, the EU and the UN Environment Program. Resulted in the creation of the Canadian Sustainable Finance Leaders’ Group to accelerate the implementation of the recommendations by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Risk Disclosure.
Authored Do G20 Leaders need to put on their Own Emergency Oxygen Masks First? A Look at Germany’s G20 Presidency and Climate Policy (Oxford), an analysis of G20 sustainable finance and economic-related climate policies to make the case that climate policy must be anchored in the well-being of all citizens and in so doing foresaw crisis brought to light through movements such as "les gilets jaunes".
Authored Generating Growth from Innovation for the Low-carbon Economy: Exploring Safeguards in Finance and Regulation (CIGI) to explore how innovation is negatively impacted by current environment regulation processes and to propose modern regulatory processes that promote productivity. Acted as an Expert advisor to the Horizontal Review of Clean Technology and Innovation Policy. Provided comprehensive advice to the Canadian government on innovation policy generally, and specifically in relation to the role of innovation in the implementation of Canada’s Paris Agreement commitments.
Co-chaired the T20 Climate Policy and Finance Taskforce with colleagues from the Brookings Institution and the Mercator Institute for Global Commons and Climate Change. Brought together representatives from 35 global think tanks to develop a suite of policy recommendations on infrastructure, carbon pricing, green finance, the role of SMEs to promote financial de-risking in the low-carbon economy, sustainable energy in Africa and the impact of energy transformation on resource industries, trade and growth. As part of this co-chairship, published “Aligning Climate Policy with Finance Ministers’ G20 Agenda” (Nature Climate Change, July 2017)
Invited by by the (German Development Institute International Development Blog, June 2018) to predict the political outcome of the G7 Leaders' meeting: “The G7 Summit: Look For a Strong Climate Statement With or Without the US”
Invited by the (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, October 2017) to analyze Canada's climate private and public sector climate finance “Climate Report 2017: Private Sector and Climate Finance in the G20 Countries (Canada)” (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, October 2017).
Catherine Jackson provides thought leadership to pension fund board members overseeing sustainability activities through trustee development on “Overseeing Sustainable Ownership” at the International Centre for Pension Management. She has been a guest lecturer on the subject of governance and sustainability in the MBA program at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto as well as at other academic institutions.
Catherine developed this expertise through two decades of leading global sustainable ownership activities in large long term investors. She has served as Co-Chair of the Board Governance Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network headquartered in London, UK, as well as Chair of the Council for Institutional Investors’ Corporate Governance Advisory Council in Washington, DC.