UBS launches new Sustainability and Impact Forum to foster cross-industry debate on most critical issues

• Leading public and private sector sustainability experts drawn from academia, commerce, and activism join the forum, all of whom share an unwavering commitment to advancing the field of sustainability.
• Together with UBS’s own experts, the Forum will host a regular series of events focused on tackling key sustainability and impact issues facing the world today.
• Forum to be chaired by Mike Ryan, Head of UBS’s Sustainability and Impact Institute.
  

Zurich / London  27 October 2022: UBS today announces the launch of its new Sustainability and Impact Forum with the appointment of the first four members. Through a regular series of events, the Forum will actively seek to drive debate on the most critical issues in sustainable finance today.

To be chaired by Mike Ryan, Head of the UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute, the Forum will comprise a small number of world-renowned thought-leaders, drawn from the public and private sectors – from academia, to commerce, to activism. Selected for their particular areas of expertise and differing approaches to problem solving, they all share a common and unwavering commitment to advancing the field of sustainability. The first founding members are:

• Peter Bakker, President & CEO at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Peter leads the premier global, CEO-led community of over 200 of the world’s leading sustainable businesses working collectively to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net-zero, nature positive, and more equitable future.
• Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge. His research has covered welfare and development economics and the economics of technological change.
  
• Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy and Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University. Katharine is a climate scientist whose research and outreach focuses on understanding the impacts of climate change and empowering people to advocate for climate action. She has been named as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People and a United Nations Champion of the Earth.
• Fiona Reynolds, CEO of Conexus Financial and former CEO of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment, from 2013 – 2022, during which time the organization’s membership grew to over 5,000 firms representing over USD140 trillion in assets under management.

Suni Harford, President of UBS Asset Management and UBS Group Executive Board lead for Sustainability and Impact, said: “We are delighted to welcome Peter, Sir Partha, Katharine and Fiona as the first members of our Sustainability and Impact Forum. As leaders in their respective fields, they will bring their unique perspectives to further the cross-industry debate on the most critical sustainable finance issues facing the world today”.

Mike Ryan, Vice Chairman of UBS Global Wealth Management and Head of UBS’s Sustainability and Impact Institute: “This new Forum brings together renowned experts from across the scientific, public policy, business, health care, academic, investment and NGO communities. We welcome their invaluable insights, analysis and rigour as part of UBS’s ongoing effort to promote objective debate and provide our clients with best in class thought leadership to support the transition toward a more sustainable future”.

About the UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute
The UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute was established in September 2021 and is headed by Mike Ryan, Divisional Vice Chairman for Global Wealth Management, and formerly GWM Chief Investment Officer for the Americas. The Institute aims at creating best-in-class sustainability and impact thought leadership.