Emma Howard Boyd
Chair
Environment Agency
Emma Howard Boyd is Chair of the Environment Agency, an Ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and interim Chair of the Green Finance Institute.
She is also an Adviser to the Board of Trade, and a UN Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience ahead of COP26.
Emma serves on several boards and advisory committees which include:
• The Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (co-Chair)
• The European Climate Foundation
• The Council for Sustainable Business
• The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project
• Menhaden PLC
Emma was the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation from 2018 until January 2021.
Claire Perry O'Neill
Managing Director
Climate and Energy at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Claire Perry O’Neill served as a UK Member of Parliament for Devizes from 2010, was a Government Whip and Minister for Rail before becoming Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth. Claire wrote and implemented the UK’s Clean Growth and Green Finance Strategies, created the global Powering Past Coal Alliance, oversaw the deployment of £3 billion of international Climate Finance and £200 million of cleantech innovation funding, negotiated the world’s first public-private Offshore Wind Sector Deal and led the UK Carbon Capture and Storage taskforce. In 2019 she brought forward the country’s ground-breaking Net Zero legislation and led the UK’s winning bid to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). She served as COP26 President-Designate until she left politics in 2020.
Claire is now the Managing Director for Climate and Energy at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. WBCSD has been the leading voice for business sustainability for over 25 years and is a global CEO-led organisation representing a combined revenue of over $8 trillion and 19 million employees. She has several non-executive Director roles and serves as a Senior Advisor to FTI Consulting and Public Policy Projects.
Claire grew up in the UK, studied Geography at Oxford University followed by an MBA at Harvard Business School and had a transatlantic career in consultancy and finance before entering politics. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and the Energy Institute.
Clare Burgess
Partner
Clifford Chance
Clare Burgess is experienced in capital markets issuances, private placements and loans, with particular focus on the infrastructure and renewables sectors.
Clare has advised on a wide range of infrastructure transactions including project bonds, private placements, corporate bonds and multi-source financings including secured corporate debt transactions (whole business securitisations). She acts for a broad range of market participants, including banks, institutional investors, multi-laterals, sponsors and corporates. She has particular experience advising on complex, credit-enhanced transactions, aggregator/portfolio financings, and restructurings/terminations.
Clare advises on the issuance of green bonds, both corporate issuance, and renewables project and portfolio financings.