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EVENT
INTERMEDIATED FINANCE: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, AND GOOD PRACTICES
An Environment and Social Safeguards Community of Practice Seminar
Intermediated Finance: Opportunities, Challenges, and Good Practices an Environment and Social Safeguards Community of Practice Seminar
25-26

January 2024

TIME:Day 1: 09:00 – 17:20 (GMT+8)
Day 2: 09:00 – 13:30 (GMT+8)

LOCATION:Beijing, China and Virtual

EVENT DESCRIPTION

To achieve ambitious sustainability objectives, it is imperative that International Financial Institutions collaborate more closely with other financing institutions, including local banks, to leverage investment funds and dedicated investment vehicles and implement financing products and instruments that go beyond traditional project-based financing.

Scaling up financing through financial intermediaries (FIs) requires the flexible application of environmental and social policies and standards. Such an approach is to accommodate variations in partner FIs’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks and related policies and capacities. It also takes into account the rapidly evolving global landscape for ESG frameworks.

Cohosted by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF), this environment and social safeguards community of practice seminar will explore good practices, instruments and tools, global ESG frameworks, and emerging standards to help International Financial Institutions manage environmental and social risks associated with intermediated finance investments.

AUDIENCE
  • Environment and social safeguard practitioners and investment operations staff of International Financial Institutions
  • Policy makers and representatives from international development organizations, local financial institutions, consultancies, and other stakeholders
FORMAT

The event is a two-day hybrid seminar, to be held at AIIB headquarters in Beijing and online via Zoom. Presentations and discussions will be held in English. Simultaneous Chinese interpretation will also be provided. Presentations and knowledge products based on the seminar content will be uploaded on the MCDF JIGSAW platform.

EVENT STRUCTURE
AGENDA
Opening Ceremony
Urjit R. Patel
Urjit R. Patel
Vice President, Investment Operations Region 1, AIIB
<p>Patel is Vice President, Investment Operations (Region 1) where he oversees all sovereign and nonsovereign operations in South Asia, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia, including the entire investment cycle from identification, preparation to implementation. He also has joint oversight with the VP for Investment Operations (Region 2) over the Social Infrastructure, Operational Services, and Implementation Monitoring departments. From 2016-2018, Patel was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, after serving as its Deputy Governor from 2013-2016. He has extensive experience in various infrastructure sectors, having served as President (Business Development) at Reliance Industries Limited from 2007-2011 and Executive Director and member of the Management Committee of the Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd. from 1997-2006. He served as independent director in various publicly listed private-sector corporations. Patel received his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University. In 2019, he was awarded the Wilbur Cross Medal by Yale University. He is also an Honorary Fellow, Linacre College, Oxford. From 2009-2012 he was a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. He has authored scholarly publications and papers in the areas of public finance, infrastructure, regulatory economics, monetary policy, global financial safety net, economics of climate change and theory of international trade. Patel is from India.</p>
Zhongjing Wang
Zhongjing Wang
Chief Executive Officer, MCDF
<p>Mr. Zhongjing Wang is the inaugural Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF). Before being appointed as CEO, he served as Head of the Interim Secretariat tasked with establishing the multilateral finance facility. Mr. Wang is a global leader and advocate for high quality connectivity infrastructure with a relentless focus on diversity, transparency, equality, innovation, and collaboration.</p> <p>Prior to joining the MCDF, Zhongjing served as the Director-General of the Center for Evaluation of the World Bank Loan Projects in the Chinese Ministry of Finance leading the cooperation between China and multilateral financial institutions and bilateral development partners with an annual lending portfolio of roughly $7 billion. He has served on the Board of multiple international organizations and financial mechanisms, including the Asian Development Bank, the New Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and Adaptation Fund. He was a council member of the Global Environmental Facility, Global Infrastructure Facility, and the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative. Mr. Wang holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, a Certificate of International Tax Program from Harvard Law School and an LL.B from Peking University.</p>
Jay Collins
Jay Collins
Vice Chairman of Public Sector & Banking, Citi
<p>Jay Collins is Vice Chairman of Public Sector and Banking at Citigroup and is the firm’s senior banker for global governments. Over the course of his 36-year career, he has advised governments, corporations and banks on complex large-scale financings and M&amp;A on every continent and across every major sector. Jay has executed transactions for over 50 governments, including privatizations, liability management and funding solutions, infrastructure finance, structured products and derivatives, as well as digital banking solutions. He has had the privilege of advising governments at times of significant financial duress, including Egypt, Argentina, Greece, Ukraine, Iraq, Ecuador, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Jamaica, working on many of the largest sovereign debt restructurings in the world.</p> <p>During the Covid crisis, Jay led a team of 27 Citi bankers as sole financial advisor to Gavi’s COVAX Facility, advising on financial and risk issues related to just and equitable global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. Throughout his career Jay has maintained an ongoing focus on sustainability and development finance and has advised multilateral financial institutions since the early 1990s. He acted as thesenior advisorto the Government of Egypt onclimate finance structures and solutions for COP27. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University where he teaches ¨Sustainability, Innovation and Technology¨ at the graduate level. He Chaired the Report Committee forthe UN Secretary General’s Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance.</p> <p>Jay served as Global Head of Citi’s Public Sector Group from 2005 – 2011. From 2006– 2007, Jaywas also GlobalHead ofInfrastructure Finance. From 2001 – 2005, Jay was Citi’s Head of Global Banking for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA). Prior to his CEEMEA position, Jay was Deputy Head and the senior foreigner in Nikko Citigroup’s Investment Banking Division in Tokyo, Japan. He has also served as Chief Operating Officer forthe Latin America Region. He has been a Senior Credit Officer of the firm since 2006.</p> <p>Before joining Citi in 1997, Jay worked for Merrill Lynch on the “NY1” team, (the US large-cap Investment Banking team) and subsequently in Merrill’s Direct Investment Group. Jay has a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University where he graduated with Honors in International Business Finance in 1989. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Colorado College. He also studied at Waseda University in Japan.</p>
Session Speakers
Ede Ijjasz
Ede Ijjasz
Senior Advisor to the CEO, MCDF
<p>Ede Ijjasz is currently Senior Advisor to the CEO of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance, MCDF. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of several organizations and foundations, including the Global Reporting Initiative, GRI, one of the first organizations that developed ESG standards, currently used by more than 10,000 organizations in over 100 countries. Mr. Ijjasz had a long career at the World Bank, where he was part of the senior leadership responsible for the sustainable development, infrastructure, and climate change portfolios. He has worked in more than 90 developing and emerging economies in all regions of the world – from fragile and conflict-affected countries to high-middle-income countries. Mr. Ijjasz was responsible for about $80B of investments in and close to 800 policy reports during his World Bank career. He oversaw the implementation of the social standards of the World Bank’s ESG framework in the entire World Bank portfolio. Mr. Ijjasz has a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has been a lecturer at Tsinghua, Johns Hopkins, and Georgetown universities.</p>
Rong Zhang
Rong Zhang
Global Coordinator, Sustainable Banking and Finance Network, International Finance Corporation
<p>Rong Zhang leads IFC’s support to the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Networks and Thought Leadership. In her role, she manages ESG global advisory programs and knowledge products to provide technical assistance and build capacity of clients and ESG practitioners, and convene networks to support government and market over various issues such as sustainable and climate finance, ESG standards, SDGs, disclosure and transparency, women in business leadership.</p> <p>Rong Zhang is instrumental to build and expand the IFC-supported Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN) which is a public-private capacity building platform convening financial regulators and industry associations from emerging markets committed to advancing the sustainable finance agenda. The Network was established in 2012 and is currently represented by 65 countries from the emerging markets.</p> <p>She represents IFC and SBFN in various international sustainable finance fora and networks including the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (G20 SFWG), the EU International Platform for Sustainable Finance (EU IPSF), the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), and the Equator Principles Association (EPA). Prior to joining IFC in 2003, she spent over 10 years in the private sector in various capacities, providing governments and companies with strategic counsel and program implementation across the full spectrum of sustainability issues.</p> <p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rongzhangsbfn/?originalSubdomain=th" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Linkedin</a></p>
Alistair Clark
Alistair Clark
Senior E&S Consultant, AIIB
<p>Alistair Clark is the Former Chair of the Export Guarantees Advisory Council of UK Export Finance as well as a Board member. Alistair is a non-executive director of Venus Minerals and has a number of other advisory positions in the climate and ESG space.</p> <p>Alistair was Managing Director for Environment and Sustainability at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from 2001 to 2021. He was responsible for the delivery of the Bank’s commitments to promote the environment and sustainable development in all its activities ( all investments, technical cooperation and internal footprint). As part of this role, he instigated and developed 4 separate Environmental and Social Policies of the Bank and has led a task force on the convergence of E&amp;S, Integrity and Procurement issues as part of the Heads of Institutions meeting at the Bali WBG/IMF meetings.</p> <p>In addition, Alistair was the Senior Bank leader of the NDEP and E5P Environmental Fund Management which triggered over 1,5 billion Euros of green investment in countries of the Eastern Partnership, Russia and Belarus. As a result of his stewardship of NDEP, he was recently awarded a Knight of the Order of the White Rose by the President of Finland.</p> <p>Prior to this role, Alistair worked in the private sector and as a Senior Vice-President of a major international environmental consultancy URS/Dames &amp; Moore. Over my 16 years, he worked in over 50 countries.</p>
Rong Zhou
Rong Zhou
Environmental Specialist-Private Sector, Operational Services Department (OSD), AIIB
<p>Rong Zhou has over 20-year experiences in the Environmental Risk Management field, have multiple experience on Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) for Financial Institution, Sustainable Finance, Sustainability Information disclosure, Environmental Impact Assessment and Climate and Energy Policy.</p> <p>Rong has working experience for both public sector, private sector and NGO. Prior to joining AIIB, Rong has worked as consultant for IFC, World Bank, UNDP and Energy Foundation China.</p> <p>Rong is currently responsible for AIIB’s private sector ES safeguard work, with variety of corporate finance, FI and Capital market related transaction.</p>
Theresa Ehmann
Theresa Ehmann
Head of Division, Competence Center E&S Sustainability, KfW
<p>Theresa has over ten years' experience in environmental and social management in industry and banking. After a Masters in Environmental and Resource Management and several years in consultancy, she joined KfW Entwicklungsbank as an Environmental and Social Specialist. She worked on projects in various sectors with a focus on financial institutions and funds. Since mid-2023, she has been leading KfW Development Bank’s E&amp;S team, managing the higher risk and financial sector projects in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As an intermediary finance ally, she drives KfW's E&amp;S initiatives in this area such as their e-learning platform "Sustainability Training".</p>
Jesper Anderson
Jesper Anderson
Director, Head of Quality Assurance & Reporting, Nordic Development Fund
<p>Jesper Andersen holds a M.Sc in International Economics and has worked with development issues for 30+ years across the world. Jesper has focused on project finance - both public and private, project design and monitoring, impact measurement and overall compliance aspects. Jesper has extensive experience in sector planning, partner dialogue as well as strategy and policy development. Jesper has served as board member in both private and public sector investment funds. He has significant experience from work in humanitarian emergencies, conflict and fragility settings. Before rejoining NDF in 2019 Jesper worked in different development financing organisations and funds including the World Bank and the UN. Jesper has also extensive experience in bilateral development cooperation from positions in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs including several postings in Asia and Latin America.</p>
Alexey Akulov
Alexey Akulov
E&S Specialist, New Development Bank
<p>Alexey Akulov is a Principal E&amp;S Professional with the New Development Bank (NDB) based in Shanghai, China. He has 17+ years of practical experience in environmental and social (E&amp;S) due diligence, auditing and monitoring, E&amp;S impact and risk assessment and management, IFIs’ E&amp;S safeguards, E&amp;S management systems for financial institutions and industrial companies. Before joining NDB, Alexey worked as the Head of Sustainability on a major LNG development project in the Arctic where he was responsible for implementing the international lenders’ E&amp;S requirements in line with the Equator Principles, the Head of Responsible Finance and Safeguards at a national development bank, and an Environmental Consultant with a global environmental and sustainability consultancy.</p>
Daniel Novaes
Daniel Novaes
ESG Officer, Vice President, Vinci
<p>Mr. Novaes has been a member of Vinci Partners' Infrastructure team since May 2023. Prior to joining Vinci Partners, he had 16 years of professional experience in Social &amp; Environmental Project Management and Consulting, including experience in dialogue with different actors in society (Infrastructure, Renewable Hydraulics &amp; Offshore and Forestry Companies, Institutions and different government sectors, Rural Populations, Indigenous and other traditional People). Extensive experience with management, planning and coordination of the Socio-environmental, Sustainability and ESG Strategy area, with an interdisciplinary team. He is also auditor in the Integrated Management System according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. He holds a Bachelor of Forest Engineer from Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) and a master's degree in in Forest Sciences from Federal University of Viçosa (UFV).</p>
Dr. Prasad Modak
Dr. Prasad Modak
Managing Director, Environmental Management Centre Pvt. Ltd.
<p>Prasad Modak holds B Tech (Civil Engg), M Tech (Environmental Science and Engg) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Doctor of Engg (Environmental Engg) from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.</p> <p>Dr Modak has worked with almost all key UN, multi-lateral and bi-lateral developmental institutions in the world. These include the World Bank, IFC, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), European Investment Bank (EIB) and various UN bodies. Apart from Government of India and various State Governments, Dr Modak’s advice is sought by Governments of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Mauritius, Thailand and Vietnam.</p> <p>Dr Modak has extensively worked on Environmental and Social Safeguards at both Development and Private Financing Institutions, has set up Environmental and Social Management Systems for Funds and has conducted Environmental and Social Due Diligences for portfolio companies. He is currently a senior environmental and social consultant to AIIB.</p>
Viviane Otsubo Kwon
Viviane Otsubo Kwon
Co-head Sustainable Innovation, Santander Bank
<p>Viviane Otsubo Kwon has more than 20 years of experience in socioenvironmental legal matters, especially involving infrastructure projects, M&amp;A, climate change, environmental assets (forest, carbon, water and biodiversity). contaminated areas, waste management. At Santander, Viviane focuses on sustainble finance and innovation, nature based solutions, carbon markets and net zero.</p> <p>Education: Bachelor of Laws (São Paulo University - Brazil); Master of International Law (Kyushu University, Japan); Post-graduated on technical and legal aspects of environmental compliance (São Paulo Environmental Agency Superior School); Law and ESG (Fundação Getúlio Vargas).</p>
Kisoo Park
Kisoo Park
Managing Partner, Head of Business Development / Head of ESG, STIC Investments
<p>Mr. Park joined STIC Investments in 2009. He is a Managing Partner based in Seoul and is the Head of ESG and Head of Business Development at the firm. His responsibilities include ESG, investor relations, fundraising, marketing, and external affairs.</p> <p>Mr. Park started his professional experience at Samsung Life Insurance as an investment manager. He also has deep experience in structured products, F/X, and derivatives from his tenures at global financial services firms such as Barclays, Natixis, and Deutsche Asset Management.</p> <p><strong>Education</strong></p> <p>Mr. Park received a B.A. in Sociology and an MBA from Yonsei University. Mr. Park holds the CFA Charterholder designation.</p>
Pedro Ferraz
Pedro Ferraz
E&S Specialist, OSD, AIIB
<p>Pedro Campany Ferraz work in AIIB as Environmental Specialist with twenty years of industry experience and knowledge of infrastructure projects and international financing. Professional in environmental management, procedures, and MDB's policies, including dams, disaster management, and government relations. Professional with a solid background in the private sector with national and international projects over Asia, Africa, and Latin America, supporting legal and technical teams in conflict resolution cases and social and environmental assessments, policies, and standards.</p>
Peiyuan Guo
Peiyuan Guo
UNEP FI Advisor in China
<p>Dr. Guo Peiyuan, who holds a Ph.D. in Management from Tsinghua University, is Chairman of China SIF and SynTao Green Finance. Dr.Guo also serves as committee member of China Green Finance Committee, China Green Securities Committee, and advises UNEP FI’s work in China.</p>
Josefina Lindblom
Josefina Lindblom
Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
<p>Josefina Lindblom is working at the European Commission for DG Environment, in the unit of Circular Economy. She has been responsible for the work on "sustainable buildings" since 2011 and has managed the collaborative developments of Level(s), a common framework for the assessment and reporting of the environmental performance of buildings.</p> <p>Josefina works to make life cycle thinking and circularity key parts of existing European building policy. This includes ongoing efforts to develop a roadmap for the reduction of whole life carbon.</p> <p>She has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering Design from Chalmers Technical University of Gothenburg, Sweden.</p>
Nana Khurodze
Nana Khurodze
Trade Facilitation Programme, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
<p>Nana Khurodze is Associate Director, Senior Banker, Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Nana is responsible for developing of trade finance business of TFP partner banks in the Egypt, the Caucasus, Turkiye and Western Balkans. Nana is also leading technical cooperation projects supporting sustainable trade and the digitalisation of TFP partner banks in countries where the EBRD invests. Prior to joining EBRD, Nana led the Trade Finance Program of Asian Development Bank in the Caucasus region, Central Asia, Mongolia, and Pakistan, based in Manila. Nana also worked at HSBC (Georgia and Switzerland); TBC Bank; Bank of Georgia and Basisbank (Georgia).</p>
Neeraj Jain
Neeraj Jain
Senior Investment Officer, BNK 1, AIIB
<p>Neeraj is Senior Investment Officer, Financial Institutions &amp; Syndication at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank based in Beijing. He is responsible for the origination and execution of transactions with Financial Institutions in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and led multiple projects for AIIB including debt and equity financing.</p> <p>Prior to joining AIIB, he set up the agency desk for SBI Capital Markets; where he advised its clients including the State Bank of India, to raise funds from multilateral, bilateral financial institutions and export credit agencies. He also worked in multiple functions, roles, and responsibilities with various private commercial banks including ICICI Bank Limited Hong Kong, Standard Chartered Bank, and ABN Amro Bank.</p>
Wesley Byeongwan Kim
Wesley Byeongwan Kim
Senior Investment Officer, BNK 1, AIIB
<p>Wesley is a digital specialist with 16 year experience in the information and communication technology sector. With a Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering, he has a deep knowledge and foundation in technology evaluation and commercialization.</p> <p>Wesley is currently a Senior Investment Officer at AIIB, and responsible mainly for investments in digital infrastructure and industry, including data centers, fixed cables, telecommunication towers, small cells, software and solutions, and electric vehicle related supply chain in India, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands regions.</p> <p>Prior to joining AIIB, Wesley has worked in the semiconductor and telecommunication sector and at Samsung as Chief Analyst.</p>
Mark Barnard
Mark Barnard
Senior E&S Specialist, OSD, AIIB
<p>Mark is a Chartered Environmentalist and certified lead environmental auditor with thirteen years’ experience in renewable energy (including on and offshore wind, solar and hydropower) and transmission projects globally. He has a current focus on Environmental and Social Due Diligence for internationally financed renewable energy projects and has been involved in all key project development stages from pre-feasibility through to O&amp;M for developers, owners and lender groups. As well as ESDD, he has experience in site selection and optioneering, ESIA, environmental owners engineer roles and environmental and social performance monitoring for governmental agencies, owners and lenders.</p>
Neil Mascarenhas
Neil Mascarenhas
Asia Lead, Sustainable Investing & Innovation Platform, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
<p>Neil is the Asia Lead for the Sustainable Investing &amp; Innovation Platform at Goldman Sachs Asset Management based in Singapore and Hong Kong. The Sustainable Investing &amp; Innovation Platform at Goldman Sachs Asset Management streamlines sustainability leadership through the organisation, sets the strategic direction for the firm &amp; clients, aligns sustainable investing policies &amp; best practices ensuring consistency across asset classes and inspires innovation firmwide.</p> <p>Neil was earlier with NN Investment Partners in Singapore as Senior Responsible Investing Specialist focussed on implementing the Responsible Investment framework, Engagement across corporates, thematics, and client activities for the region. Prior to joining NN IP, Neil co-managed an ESG Fund in Hong Kong and worked as an ESG Specialist and Fund Manager across Asian Equity and multi-asset funds developing and implementing an ESG framework approach. Neil is passionate about the environment and sustainability topics. He has over 17 years of experience in investments across Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Asia ex-Japan.</p> <p>Neil has a MBA in Capital Markets from NMIMS Mumbai, a MA in Economics from the Mumbai School of Economics &amp; Public Policy and a BA in Economics and Statistics from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He is also a Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA®) from EFFAS, Europe and a CFA® Charter holder.</p>
Nurlan Djenchuraev
Nurlan Djenchuraev
Senior Environment Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
<p>With thirty years of expertise in environmental assessment, environmental management, environmental monitoring, environmental auditing, and air quality management, Nurlan Djenchuraev is an expert in the field of environmental work. He is presently employed as a Senior Environmental Specialist at the ADB's Office of Safeguards and has a wealth of experience in Central, West, and Southeast Asia. Nurlan currently oversees processing and implementation of environmental safeguards on the ADB’s portfolio in Pakistan. During his more than thirteen years with ADB, he worked closely on several financial intermediaries’ projects in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and other countries of the region that needed Environmental and Social Management Systems to be established and implemented.</p>
Bryan Woon
Bryan Woon
Head of the Structuring and Distribution Team, Bayfront Infrastructure Management Pte. Ltd
<p>Bryan is the Head of Structuring and Distribution of Bayfront, responsible for structuring and distribution activities, where he has led the execution and management of the Bayfront Infrastructure Capital (BIC) II, III and IV Infrastructure Asset-Backed Securities transactions, which featured dedicated sustainability tranches aligned with the ICMA GBP, SBP and SBG. These were the world’s first publicly issued securitized sustainability notes when they debuted in the BIC II transaction in June 2021.</p> <p>He was previously part of the Corporate Strategy team at Clifford Capital, where he was involved in the day-to-day management of the inaugural project and infrastructure loans take-out facility and issuance by BIC I in July 2018.</p> <p>Prior to joining Clifford Capital in 2018, he was with Citigroup in London and Singapore, primarily in debt capital markets where he led the origination, structuring and execution of numerous bond and regulatory capital transactions for financial institutions. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Economics from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.</p>
Han Zhao
Han Zhao
Senior Investment Officer, BNK 2, AIIB
<p>Han is a Senior Investment Officer at the AIIB, where she is responsible for originating and executing capital market investments across the Bank's Region 2 geographies. Prior to joining AIIB in 2021, she worked with HSBC in structured debt, corporate and infrastructure finance across various markets in Asia Pacific and the Americas. She graduated with joint degrees in Finance and International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.</p>
Yang Shuai
Yang Shuai
Senior Operations Management Officer, OSD, AIIB
<p>Shuai is the Senior Operations Management Officer in the Operational Services Department of AIIB. She has been working on ES risk management in both private and public projects across regions and sectors and has contributed to portfolio-level risk management initiatives and analysis. Prior to joining AIIB, Shuai was leading the Risk and Compliance team of PE funds. She has over 10 years of experience in international and regional financial cooperations and holds a PhD in International Law and a BS in Engineering.</p>
Isabell Laurent
Isabell Laurent
Deputy Head of Treasury, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
<p>Isabelle Laurent is the Deputy Treasurer and Head of Funding at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).</p> <p>Isabelle spent 13 years in London and Hong Kong in treasury, fixed income origination, and swaps trading and marketing with Swiss Bank Corporation International, Nomura International and latterly at NatWest Markets where she was Director of Debt and Derivatives Marketing.</p> <p>She joined EBRD in 1997 as Deputy Head of the Treasury Funding team, and was promoted to Deputy Treasurer and Head of Funding in 2003. In addition to overseeing EBRD’s issuance in the capital markets and investor relations, Isabelle also focuses on capital markets’ development in EBRD’s countries of operations and sustainable finance.</p> <p>Following Isabelle’s instigation of EBRD’s issuance of Green Bonds and Social Bonds in 2010, EBRD has continued to be active in the sustainable bond market both as an issuer and investor. For several years, Isabelle has been fully engaged in the work of the Green Bond Principles (“GBP”), as a member of its Executive Committee, and as co-chair of the GBP’s Impact Reporting Working Group</p>
Sean Kidney
Sean Kidney
CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative
<p>Sean Kidney is CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, an international NGO working to mobilize global capital for climate action. He oversees green bond development programs on six continents; green taxonomy development by governments ranging from the European Commission to Thailand &amp; Singapore; and policy development for capital mobilization. Sean is also a Professor in Practice at SOAS University of London and an expert advisor to governments around the world.</p>
Kate Thelander
Kate Thelander
Assistant Director, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia
<p>Kate is a Lead Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialist with the Australian Infrastructure Finance Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP). She has over 20 years’ experience working across a number of areas including, environmental and social safeguards, impact assessment, due diligence and sustainability for a wide range of projects, programs and organisations in different sectors. She has a strong background in infrastructure, extractives, energy, renewables and has worked across different regions including Australia, North Asia, East Asia, South Asia and the Pacific. As Environmental and Social Safeguard Specialist for AIFFP, Kate is responsible for management and coordination of environmental and social safeguards work across a range of infrastructure investments in the Pacific, and policy development, guidance and capacity building to support safeguard effectiveness. Prior to joining AIFFP, Kate spent a number of years with the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) where she was responsible for providing safeguard advice and capacity building on a wide range of Australian development and humanitarian programs and investments and worked closely with Multinational Financial Institutions, and bilateral aid organizations. She has a strong interest in mentoring and safeguards capacity building, has been a speaker at international workshops/conferences, and as served as chair of the Pacific Regional Infrastructure Facility’s Environmental and Social Safeguard Working Group. Kate has lived and worked in China but now calls Brisbane home.</p>
Richard Sherrington
Richard Sherrington
Principal Safeguards Specialist, Office of Safeguards, ADB
<p>Richard is a Principal Social Safeguards Specialist and the Social Team Head for private sector operations at the Asian Development Bank where he has worked for the past 5 years. His role includes guiding transactions through the deal appraisal, monitoring and project review processes, working on all types of financing modalities and sectors, across all geographies of ADB’s membership country portfolio.</p> <p>Before joining ADB Richard worked as a sustainability specialist for global brand extractives sector companies, principally in Africa, but also across South America, eastern Europe and central and southern Asia. Richard has a PhD in Social Anthropology which he complemented with a research fellowship at the University of Cambridge.</p>
Suu Tran Quy
Suu Tran Quy
Social Specialist, OSD, AIIB
<p>Suu Tran Quy is the Social Development Specialist of AIIB. Prior to joining the Bank, he has worked over 16 years as social safeguards and social development expert for the MDBs. Specializing in social risks and impacts assessment and management, he has good understanding of the policy implementation issues and policy implementation best practices. In the current work with AIIB, his primary responsibility is to support the integration of social dimensions into the operational works of the Bank and mange the social risks and impacts in the assigned investment programs and projects following the requirements of AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy. Suu graduated Sociology in Vietnam and he holds post-graduation degree in Development Studies in the United Kingdom.</p>
Siva Rama Krishna Sastry Jyosyula
Siva Rama Krishna Sastry Jyosyula
Senior Social Development Specialist, AIIB
<p>Siva has been working as a senior social development specialist in Operational Services Department, AIIB since early 2022. Prior to joining AIIB, Siva was associated with World Bank, ADB, federal and local governments as well as private sector in several positions, contributing in the areas of large-scale resettlement planning, livelihood restoration, grievance mechanisms. Siva was involved in E&amp;S due diligence of projects in various geographies, undertook preparation and implementation E&amp;S measures for sovereign and non-sovereign investments in priority sectors including water, energy and transport. Siva enjoys working with clients and stakeholders and focuses on knowledge transfer and strengthening institutions to facilitate sustained results.</p> <p>Siva is a Civil Engineer and holds a Professional Master in Urban Management from ITC, University of Twente, The Netherlands, Master of Environmental Planning from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi</p>
Rhea Branzuela Reburiano-Javier
Rhea Branzuela Reburiano-Javier
Social Development Officer, Office of Safeguards, ADB
<p>Rhea is a safeguards professional with over 12 years of experience, including in project preparation and implementation, E&amp;S policy review and update, strengthening country safeguard systems, and E&amp;S compliance review.</p> <p>A member of ADB’s private sector safeguards team, she is currently the social focal for equity investments and financial intermediaries, mainly working on finance and energy projects. Previously, she worked on South Asia sovereign projects, focused on energy, urban, and water sectors.</p> <p>Rhea obtained degrees in Bachelor of Science in Economics and Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines.</p>
Brendan Cuddihy
Brendan Cuddihy
ESG Leader, Infrata
<p>Brendan is an ESG consultant with over 20 years of experience. He leads Infrata's ESG advisory services for the EMEA and North America regions, providing high quality and pragmatic advice to investors and lenders.</p> <p>Prior to joining Infrata, he led Arup's ESG transaction due diligence services. Working at the forefront of this field, his team won the IJ Global ESG Technical Advisor of the Year award in 2021 and 2022.</p> <p>Brendan works with both equity investors and financial institutions and advises on both brownfield and greenfield projects across infrastructure sectors. He works to client-specific briefs and also to international environmental and social standards, including the Equator Principles and the IFC Performance Standards.</p> <p>In addition to transactions, he works with clients to develop ESG strategies and reporting. This increasingly involves helping clients to navigate the myriad of regulation and standards emerging in this field, from the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the EU Taxonomy to the recommendations of the Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).</p> <p>A recent focus of his work has been developing transformation plans for his clients as they take ownership of new assets. These are focussed on effectively managing ESG risks and opportunities, adding value to the assets, and bringing management of these issues up to the high standards many clients are now expecting.</p> <p>He has worked extensively in the energy, utilities, transport, digital and real estate sectors on projects in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.</p> <p>He is a member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and a Chartered Environmentalist.</p>
David Rollinson
David Rollinson
Senior Environmental & Social Specialist, OSD, AIIB
<p>David Rollinson is a Senior Environmental Specialist at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, who has been working in the Environmental and Social safeguards space for the last 12 years. Prior to joining the AIIB, David led the Environmental and Social assessment teams in Southeast Asia at the Consultancy Arup. David has extensive experience throughout Asia and the Pacific, working in numerous sectors throughout the project lifecycle ranging from undertaking impact assessments for large-scale infrastructure projects, through to E&amp;S transaction advice. David is a Chartered Biologist.</p>
Yukihiro Shibuya
Yukihiro Shibuya
Senior Social Development Specialist (Safeguards), ADB
<p>Yukihiro Shibuya is a Senior Social Development Specialist (Safeguards) at the Office of Safeguards of the Asian Development Bank. In ADB, Yukihiro was assigned to the Pakistan Resident Mission for two years and has been based in the Uzbekistan Resident Mission since 2023 and overseas processing and implementation of social safeguards on the ADB’s portfolio in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. Yukihiro also overseas regional technical assistance for enhancing social safeguards capacity in Central and West Asian region and supports the capacity building of the clients in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan.</p>
Milica Popovic
Milica Popovic
E&S Lead, Arup Serbia
<p>Milica is an environmental and social consultant with a focus on EU and IFI funded projects within the Belgrade Infrastructure group.</p> <p>At Arup Belgrade she leads the Environmental and Social Advisory team overseeing the successful execution of projects aligned with the Environmental and Social policies of development and commercial banks. Her extensive experience primarily revolves around projects financed by the EBRD, ADB, EIB, World Bank, and IFC, as well as those adhering to Equator Principles, predominantly in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.</p> <p>With an engineering background Milica has devoted a significant portion of her career to analysing the social impacts of infrastructure projects. As a senior social consultant, her efforts are concentrated on understanding how these projects affect communities at large and individuals within them, identifiying risks to the fabric of those communities as well as opportunities to increase social value through project delivery. Her expertise covers various aspects, including land acquisition, resettlement and livelihood restoration, labor management, construction phase impacts, residual effects during operations, stakeholder engagement, and grievance management. Throughout this process, she collaborates closely with local authorities, interest groups, NGOs, public utility companies, and the people affected by the projects.</p> <p>Over the past twelve years, Milica has been working on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Due Diligence projects related to public utility and infrastructure investments. Her responsibilities include review of the proposed investments against the adopted standards, and development of mitigation and management plans required to ensure project delivery in accordance with those standards - Environmental and Social Action Plans (ESAPs), Stakeholder Engagement Plans and Resettlement and Livelihood Restoration Action Plans. The project sectors include water and wastewater, waste management, roads and highways, urban transport and energy, specifically renewable energy.</p>
Oliver Warner
Oliver Warner
Managing Director, IBIS Consulting
<p>Oliver Warner has been advising financial institutions on sustainable finance and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) for the last 20 years in Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America, with the last 14 years in Singapore. Oliver was previously Sustainable Finance Manager at Standard Chartered Bank, focused on emerging markets, where he advised on transactions. He has a strong understanding of the practical application of international environmental and social standards, having both worked for financiers and assisted projects in navigating financiers’ E&amp;S expectations. Oliver has substantial firsthand experience in more than 20 countries in Asia in multiple sectors, and he has authored or coauthored publications on sustainable finance commissioned by financial institutions and for the Equator Principles Association. Oliver is a Chartered Environmental Professional, a full member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), a Registered Principal Environmental Auditor in the UK, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London.</p>
Saranga Gajasinghe
Saranga Gajasinghe
Safeguards Officer, ADB
<p>Mr. Saranga Gajasinghe having a Master of philosophy degree in integrated water resources management and a diploma in environmental journalism, is presently attached to the South Asia regional department of the Asian Development Bank. Working as a senior safeguards specialist at Sri Lanka Resident Mission he is the focal for environmental, social safeguards and climate change thematic areas in projects implemented in Sri Lanka. During a carrier spanning over two decades, he has held positions of team leader, environmental and resettlement specialist in major development projects. He has experience in supporting projects through the entire project cycle. Under his present assignment with ADB he has been providing guidance to financial intermediaries to strengthen their capacity in implementing safeguards requirement, especially in space of small and medium entrepreneur line of credit project. Mr. Gajasinghe is a Charter Member of the Institute of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka, a Life Member of Highway Engineer’s Association Sri Lanka and a member of the Agricultural Engineering Society Sri Lanka (AESSL).</p>
Tim Cook
Tim Cook
E&S Lead & Partner, Infravue
<p>Tim is a Partner and founding member of Infravue, where he leads their ESG portfolio.</p> <p>Infravue are a specialist advisory firm that partners with the world’s leading investors to deliver best-in-class technical advice for infrastructure owners across multiple asset classes across their whole ownership lifecycle.</p> <p>Tim is a skilled executive, having built and managed teams in Australia and abroad for the diverse portfolios of environment, natural resources, marine, climate change and sustainability. Tim has extensive experience across the whole planning, engineering. operation and investment lifecycles.</p> <p>To date, Tim has led the delivery of ESG due diligence on over $65bln of successful infrastructure transactions across the Asia Pacific region.</p> <p>Tim’s strength lies in the ability to lead the interface between different technical aspects within the environment, sustainability, social and governance disciplines.</p> <p>He is a systems thinker with over 25 years' experience , a practicing lead environmental auditor, holder of a Bachelor of Science (Geology) and participant in international working groups for planetary boundaries, nature based design and resilient urban systems.</p>
Satoshi Ishihara
Satoshi Ishihara
Senior Social Development Specialist, The World Bank
<p>Satoshi Ishihara has over 20 years of experiences in social safeguards of large infrastructure projects including hydropower development, highway constructions and urban development. He has extensive experiences in informal land acquisition and recently published case studies on unregistered and customary land acquisition. His has worked in East Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Eastern Africa. He is based in Indonesia. His current work includes strengthening corporate ESMSs of Financial Intermediaries (FI) and energy companies as part of their ESG strategies; ESG strategy development for the Ministry of Finance; and development of technical guidelines for social risk assessment and FPIC.</p>
Jian Zhou
Jian Zhou
Social Development Specialist (Safeguards), ADB
<p>Jian Zhou is the Social Development Specialist (Safeguards) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and outposted to PRC Resident Mission. He has over 20 years of professional experience in resettlement and social impact assessment. Before joining ADB in 2019, he was a researcher at the National Research Center for Resettlement, and a consultant for ADB, WB, EIB and USAID. He is the main drafter of Social Assessment Guidelines for Municipal Utilities Projects issued by PRC’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. He has been involved in processing and implementation of 8 FI projects in PRC.</p>
Luisa Rosas
Luisa Rosas
Environmental and Social Specialist, Competence Center E&S Sustainability, KfW
<p>Luisa Rosas holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering and a Masters Degree in Environmental Management. For the past ten years, she has worked in sustainable finance, concentrating on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and environmentally friendly technologies in different regions, including Latin America, Eastern Europe, MENA, and Asia. Luisa has an excellent understanding of development cooperation in the financial sector and specializes in implementing Environmental and Social Management Systems for Financial Intermediaries to manage E&amp;S risks. Prior to joining KfW Development Bank, Luisa gained experience in the consultancy and fund management sectors, with a focus on impact investing.</p>
Roberto Tordecilla
Roberto Tordecilla
Senior E&S Specialist, OSD, AIIB
<p>Roberto (Roy) Tordecilla joined AIIB in October last year as a Senior Social Development Specialist and now part of the team that manages the application of the Bank’s ESF in its investment projects. He currently works on both SBF and NSBF projects including FI projects.</p> <p>Before joining AIIB, Roy led the Social Safeguards team at the World Bank Country Management Unit for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand and provided cross support for projects in the East Asia and Pacific Region. He also had extensive work in the area of fragility, conflict and violence particularly in Southern Philippines. Prior to his stint with the World Bank, Roy spent 10 years in policy advocacy and community and social development work with civil society organizations. After his CSO engagement, Roy was recruited to head the Localization Unit of the National Anti-Poverty Commission under the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines to take charge of mainstreaming the Philippine government’s poverty-reduction program at sub-national level.</p> <p>Roy has bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration.</p>
Ming Hao
Ming Hao
Investment Officer, Banking 2, AIIB
<p>Ming Hao is currently serving as the Investment Officer in Banking Department Region 2 of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), he mainly focuses on the development of financial cooperation related transactions with banks and non-bank finance companies in the regions including Eastern Asia, Central Asia, MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining AIIB in 2019, Ming Hao used to work for Charoen Pokphand Group (Thailand), Maybank, OCBC Bank, and China EXIM Bank.</p>
Parthapriya Ghosh
Parthapriya Ghosh
Senior E&S Specialist, OSD, AIIB
<p>Parthapriya Ghosh joined AIIB in September 2023 as a Senior Social Development Specialist. He has more than 32 years of experience of working on large infrastructure projects across sectors with several MDBs including World Bank and ADB. He has worked with both government as well as private sector clients. He specializes in both safeguard issues as well as soft sectors such as gender, GRM and social inclusion.</p>
Yun Zhou
Yun Zhou
Senior Environment Specialist, ADB
<p>Dr. Yun Zhou is a senior environment specialist at Office of Safeguards of ADB, mainly focusing on environmental safeguard due diligence of ADB financed projects in China and Mongolia. Prior to joining ADB, she was the Director of International Cooperation Center at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, the largest research institution under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), where she provided support to different research teams in the implementation of bilateral/multilateral environmental cooperation projects, and conducted research on energy and climate change. She also worked as Deputy Director of the Administrative Office in the Appraisal Center for Environment and Engineering, which is a major technical support institution in the field of environmental impact assessment for MEE.</p>
Closing Ceremony
Ines Fejzic
Ines Fejzic
Senior Environment and Social Development Specialist, MCDF
<p>Ines is an experienced environmental and social practitioner with over 10 years of working in the environmental and sustainability services and multilateral development bank industry, underpinned by her technical knowledge gained through her master’s in civil engineering from the University of Sarajevo. She understands the multilaterals’ operational landscape and international best practice in relation to environmental and social issues.</p> <p>Prior to joining the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance, Ines worked in the environmental consultancy sector for over five years and then, between 2017 and 2023, for the Environment and Sustainability Department of the EBRD.</p> <p>Ines is the technical lead on MCDF’s work promoting the wider application of MDB environmental and social safeguards among developing countries and emerging market financiers.</p>
Yanning Wang
Yanning Wang
Director General OSD, AIIB
<p>Wang is responsible for managing the Operational Services Department (OSD) which supports all the operational fiduciary needs for both sovereign and nonsovereign operations of the Bank. This includes ensuring that AIIB operations are properly resourced and staffed with qualified specialists to cover the environment, social, procurement and financial management aspects and that AIIB policies and standards for those areas are fully observed in all Bank’s operations.</p> <p>Before taking on OSD responsibilities, he was the Assistant Corporate Secretary of AIIB. Wang brings with him his rich experience in managing the environmental, social and other fiduciary risk and impact from his years as Director in the Government of China overseeing the large portfolio of multilateral development banks financing activities in China, as well as his work with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. He served as Operations Advisor for the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, leading quality assurance for operational deliveries and implementation support for the investment activities. He also served on the Board of Executive Directors of the Asian Development Bank. During his service for the Government of China, he led the development of a number of East Asia regional financial integration initiatives in response to the 1997 and 2008 financial crises. Wang holds a MA degree in economics from McGill University and a BA degree in English literature from Nanjing University. He is from China.</p>
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If you would like to learn more about this seminar, please contact Ning Wu ning.wu1@aiib.org.

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