LJD Week 2023 | Leveraging Finance for Climate Change

Andrew Steer is the President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, a $10 billion fund to address the pressing issues of climate change and nature in this decisive decade.

Dr. Steer joined the Bezos Earth Fund from the World Resources Institute, where he served as President & CEO for over eight years. Prior to this, he had served as the World Bank’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Director General at the UK Department of International Development. This followed 10 years in East Asia, where he was Head of the World Bank in Vietnam and Indonesia. Dr. Steer is a Global Agenda Trustee for the World Economic Forum, a Commissioner of the Energy Transitions Commission, a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), co-chair of the Greening the Belt and Road Coalition, and board member of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet.

                    @DrAndrewSteer                    @BezosEarthFund

Rachel Kyte is Dean Emerita of The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a professor of practice. Ms. Kyte served as special representative of the UN secretary-general and chief executive officer of Sustainable Development for All (SEforALL). Previously, as World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, she led action on climate finance in the run-up to the Paris Agreement. She has also served as an advisor to the UN secretary-general on climate action and the energy crisis response to the invasion of Ukraine, and chaired the Rwandan Green Fund (FONERWA). Ms. Kyte regularly speaks and writes on issues of mobilization of finance for climate action, energy transitions, and climate diplomacy; and advises on financial architecture reform, climate action, and delivery against the SDGs. She has been recognized for her leadership on both sides of the Atlantic and was made a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2020 New Years Honors.

                    @rkyte365                    @FletcherSchool

John Morton John E. Morton is Managing Director, Global Head of Advisory and a member of the Executive Committee of Pollination, a global climate change investment and advisory firm. He returned to Pollination in January 2023 after having served as the U.S. Treasury Department and Secretary Janet Yellen’s inaugural Climate Counselor. In this role, he managed and coordinated the Department of Treasury’s historically ambitious climate change strategy and policies. Previously, Mr. Morton served as the President’s White House Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change at the National Security Council was the Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) (now the U.S. Development Finance Corporation). His work has focused on expediting the transition to a low carbon economy, and he has been at the forefront of designing and structuring some of the most innovative platforms and investment vehicles to mobilize private capital flows into fast-growing global markets.

                    @johnemorton         

Shirmila Ramasamy is Senior Counsel at the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency and a capital markets lawyer who works on innovative financing mechanisms for targeted development priorities. She has been with the World Bank since 2008 and is part of the team responsible for the design and structuring of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFI), the Advance Market Commitments (AMC), the Pilot Auction Facility for Climate Mitigation (PAF) and other financing initiatives. Ms. Ramasamy advises on capital markets instruments pioneered by the World Bank, including the Wildlife Conservation Bond and is the lead lawyer for the international Development Association. Prior to joining the World Bank, she had worked in London, New York and Singapore—managing cross-border structured finance transactions as Managing Associate at Linklaters LLP.