Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Ion Yadigaroglu has been Managing Partner at Capricorn Investment Group since 2004, and is an early investor in iconic technology companies including Tesla, SpaceX, Planet, QuantumScape and Saildrone.  Capricorn was born from the desire to demonstrate the huge investment potential that resides in breakthrough commercial solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, and as such is one of the original impact investors.   Prior to Capricorn, Ion was Director of Business Development (M&A) with Koch Industries, executing a range of acquisitions and investments, and a Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Bivio, a software startup in Colorado, and an Analyst at Olsen & Associates, a quantitative forex trader.   Ion was a research fellow at Columbia University and holds a master’s in physics from ETH Zürich in Switzerland and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Stanford University. Ion serves on the boards of Twelve and Capricorn, and was a founding member in 2007 of GIIN, the Global Impact Investor Network, and is a Director of non-profits Ceres and MethaneSat.

Patrick Graichen is a State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. He has held this post since 15 December 2021 and is responsible for energy and climate policy.From 2012, Graichen was instrumental in setting up the think tank Agora Energiewende, taking on the roles of Executive Director and Managing Director from 2014 until his move to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.  He began his career in public service at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, first as an officer in the Division for International Climate Protection, then as Personal Assistant to a State Secretary, and subsequently as Head of Division for Climate and Energy Policy. During this time, he played a leading role in negotiating the economic instruments of the Kyoto Protocol, the Federal Government's 2007 Integrated Energy and Climate Programme, the EU's 2008 Climate and Energy Package, and legislative procedures in the field of energy law.Patrick Graichen studied Political Science and Economics in Heidelberg and Cambridge, UK, before going on to earn his doctorate at the Interdisciplinary Institute for Environmental Economics at the University of Heidelberg.

Francesco La Camera has been the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) since April 2019.Under Francesco’s leadership the Agency has forged a series of new strategic partnerships with UN organisations including UNDP, UNFCCC and Green Climate Fund among others. A key priority of his tenure is to implement a more action-oriented approach to the Agency’s work.Previously, Francesco served as Director-General of Sustainable Development, Environmental Damage, EU and International Affairs at the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land & Sea since 2014. Francesco held number of roles at the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea. As the national coordinator for climate, environment, resource efficiency and circular economy, he led the Italian delegation to UNFCCC’s COP 21 to 24 and the EU Presidency at COP 20. He was responsible for the preparation and organisation of Italy’s G7 Environment Presidency in 2017. He served as co-chair of the Africa Centre for Climate and Sustainable Development established in Rome in partnership with FAO and UNDP and co-chaired the Financial Platform for Climate and Sustainable Development in partnership with the Italian Development Bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. He has also coordinated a number of national strategies including on sustainable development, green finance and fossil fuel subsides among other things.Francesco was a lecturer of Sustainable Development at the University of Cosenza and of Environment & Land Economics at the University of Roma 3. He is a graduate of the University of Messina in Political Sciences (Economic Policy major). Further reading: IRENA World Energy Transitions Outlook https://irena.org/publications/2022/Mar/World-Energy-Transitions-Outlook-2022

Farhana Yamin is an international climate change lawyer, public speaker, author and social justice activist.Farhana is a Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts in London, Associate Research Fellow at Chatham House, Senior Adviser to SystemIQ and Co Coordinator of Camden Think and Do.Farhana has spent over three decades working in the climate space – she represented small island and developing countries at climate conferences (she has been deputy chair of the Expert Group of Advisors to the Climate Vulnerable Forum), worked at Children's Investment Fund Foundation, served as a special adviser to the EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard, founded Track 0 and taught at a number of universities. Farhana was one of the Coordinators of Extinction Rebellion’s Strategy team.Farhana read PPE at Somerville College, Oxford and is a qualified solicitor. She feature on the 2020 BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour Power list.

John joined National Grid in 1991 and during his time at the company has held a variety of senior management roles, including UK Director of Engineering in 2003, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for the US Electricity Distribution & Generation business in 2007, Chief Operating Officer for UK Gas Distribution in 2010, and UK Chief Operating Officer from 2012 to 2014.  He joined the Board in 2014, as Executive Director UK, responsible for the UK’s Electricity Transmission, Gas Transmission and Gas Distribution businesses.  In September 2017, John came together with the government and thirteen other CEOs to create an Inclusive Economy Partnership, which has been established to identify and develop solutions to some of today’s most significant societal challenges, including financial inclusion and capability, mental health and transition to work.  In January 2018, John was appointed to the Rentokil Initial plc Board as a Non-Executive Director and became Senior Independent Director in May 2019.  He was appointed a member of the Edison Electric Institute Executive Committee in June 2019 and joined the Board of the Electric Power Research Institute in April 2021. John is a member of CBI’s Presidents Committee, and a Fellow of the Energy Institute and of the Institution of Energy and Technology.  He holds a BSC in Economics and an MSc in International Economics and Banking, and completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2010. 

Mark Carney is one of the towering figures of climate finance. In 2020 Mark became the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, and the adviser to the UK on finance for COP 26. At COP26, in Glasgow, he launched GFANZ - the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, whose members manage $130 trillion of financial assets and have pledged to invest them in line with the Paris agreements. Mark co-chairs GFANZ together with Mike Bloomberg.Mark is a Vice Chair and Head of Transition Investing at Brookfield Asset Management and Board Member of Stripe.He was the governor of Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013, and then Governor of the Bank of England from 2013 until 2020. He was the chair of the Financial Stability Board (2011-2018) founding co-chair of TCFD - the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure.Mark holds a bachelor's degree with high honours in economics from Harvard University and MPhil and DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford.

In this engaging talk, Alex Honnold, the legendary rock climber famous for his free solo ascents, discusses his transition from engineering student to climbing icon. He dives into the emotional complexities of extreme sports, balancing personal milestones with competition. The conversation shifts to his Honnold Foundation, emphasizing solar energy's impact on disadvantaged communities, particularly in healthcare. Alex highlights innovative projects and the importance of sustainability, advocating for a holistic approach to climate change that empowers communities.

Claire Skinner is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles' London office and leader of the Europe region. She is a member of the firm’s CEO & Board, Industrial, and Private Equity practices.Claire has more than 20 years of experience building executive and non-executive teams for a wide range of clients involved in energy, utilities, clean technology, and sustainability. Additionally, she has substantial expertise within energy and environmental investment, building teams on behalf of leading venture and private equity companies, infrastructure and asset managers, global financial institutions, and professional services groups.Claire has significant experience in senior sustainability and climate change appointments within major corporations, government, philanthropy, and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Claire led the EMEA alternative energy & clean technology practice at a global executive search firm. Previously, she was the founding managing director of a boutique executive search firm dedicated to the power and sustainability markets.Claire serves on the Business Advisory Group of the UK Government Climate Change Committee. She holds a BSc in Agricultural Environmental Science from Newcastle University and MSc in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester.

This episode of Cleaning Up is based on a March 2022 blog post written by Michael for BloombergNEF.https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-the-quest-for-resilience-what-could-possibly-go-wrong/We would like to thank BloombergNEF for allowing us to record it. Further reading:“This Isn’t a Natural Disaster”: Climate Scientist Michael Mann on Deadly Tornadoes in 8 States (December 2021)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLKlvnc4dBM&t=648sEmpirical evidence of declining global vulnerability to climate-related hazards (July 2019)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378019300378Climate rhetoric: What’s an energy trilemma? (December 2013)https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-rhetoric-whats-an-energy-trilemmaClimatological analysis of solar and wind energy in Germany using the Grosswetterlagen classification (February 2021)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148120316682What happens during a blackout: Consequences of a prolonged and wide-ranging power outage (August 2011)https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000103292Voltage collapse in complex power grids (February 2016)https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10790A Framework for Establishing Critical Infrastructure Resilience Goals (October 2010)https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/niac/niac-a-framework-for-establishing-critical-infrastructure-resilience-goals-2010-10-19.pdfA 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use (March 2022)https://www.iea.org/reports/a-10-point-plan-to-cut-oil-useA 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Union’s Reliance on Russian Natural Gas (March 2022)https://www.iea.org/reports/a-10-point-plan-to-reduce-the-european-unions-reliance-on-russian-natural-gas

Tom Steyer is Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, a mission-driven investment platform.Tom Steyer founded and ran Farallon Capital Management, a multi-strategy global investment business based in San Francisco, from 1986 until 2012. During that period, it grew assets from $6mm to $36bn. Over the same time, Tom was also a partner and Investment Committee member at Hellman & Friedman, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm.After retiring from Farallon, Tom dedicated himself to public service and philanthropy, with a focus on climate action. Tom is the Co-Founder of Beneficial State Bank, a triple bottom line community development financial institution founded in 2007 with over $1 billion in assets. Tom is also the Founder of NextGen America, the largest youth voter mobilization organization in American history. Most recently, Tom was a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and beginning in April 2020 served as co-chair for Governor Newsom’s Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force. He also co-chaired Vice President Biden’s Climate Engagement Advisory Council to help mobilize climate voters.Tom graduated from Yale and received his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.