Global independent think tank the 2° Investing Initiative (2°ii) has appointed Simon Messenger as Director of France and UK to lead its engagements with companies and investors on climate scenario analysis.
Stan Dupré, Founder of 2°ii, said: “We are delighted to have Simon on board. He will bring a vast amount of experience and expertise to oversee our expanding programme of work to align the financial sector with the 2°C climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Particularly exciting is that he will help to develop further our pioneering work on 2°C scenario analyses with companies and investors in response to the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).”
Simon has 15 years of academic and professional experience in sustainable finance and sustainability reporting. As Managing Director of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), he worked with investors, companies and regulators on the disclosure of environmental and natural capital information in mainstream financial reports. He also led CDSB’s work in relation to the TCFD recommendations. Prior to this, Simon was Head of Consulting at the Energy Saving Trust and a sustainability manager at PwC and Deloitte. He holds two first-class degrees in environmental and climate change science and was highly commended in the Young Sustainability Executive category at the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards in June 2018.
Joining 2°ii, Simon Messenger, Head of Corporate and Investor Engagement and Director for France and the UK, said: “This is an extremely exciting opportunity, and I am looking forward to working with 2°ii on its groundbreaking climate change work to enable the financial services industry to better align itself with the 2°C climate goals.”
The think tank’s scenario analysis tool – the so-called Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment (PACTA) tool – has been one of the most popular and successful projects 2°ii has run. To date, the tool has been applied by over 250 institutional investors, as well as several financial supervisors, including the California Insurance Commissioner’s Office and the Swiss government. It enables investors to benchmark their exposure under 2°C climate scenarios against peers. The tool is also supported by the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and is set to be made freely available online this summer.
