UBS has announced the launch of its new Sustainability and Impact Forum which is designed for debate on sustainable finance issues.

To be chaired by Mike Ryan, Head of the UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute, the forum will host regular events and comprise a group of thought-leaders from the public and private sectors. 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”.