gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

Item 03 – GRI Topic Standard Projectfor Climate Change – Proposed
members for Technical Committee
For GSSB Approval
Date8 March 2023

Meeting28 March 2023

Project

GRI Topic Standard Project for Climate Change

Description

The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) has identified the GRI
Climate Change-related Topic Standards review as a priority project. The
proposal was approved in the GSSB meeting of February 2023.
This paper presents the first list of nominations of members of the technicalcommittee and its subgroups for information and approval by the GSSB.

This document has been prepared by the GRI Standards Division and is made available to observers
at meetings of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). It does not represent an officialposition of the GSSB. Board positions are set out in the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. TheGSSB is the independent standard setting body of GRI. For more information visit
www.globalreporting.org.

© GRI 2023

Contents
1. Background ......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Selection process and criteria ............................................................................................................. 3
3. Proposed technical committee composition........................................................................................ 4Page 2 of 81

1. Background2

The GSSB approved the project proposal for the GRI Topic Standard Project for Climate Change

3following its meeting on 16 February 2023.

4

In line with the GSSB’s Due Process Protocol, the GSSB confirmed its intention to form a multi-

5

stakeholder technical committee (TC) to provide technical advice for developing the revised Topic

6Standard.

7

This document presents the proposed technical committee composition for information and approval

8by the GSSB. We will present the nominated experts in two batches for approval in the March and9April meeting. All the nominated members have confirmed their availability and interest in participating

10in the technical committee and its subgroups.

112. Selection process and criteria

12

As per the due process protocol, technical committee members are appointed by the GSSB and13should reflect a balance of multi-stakeholder constituencies.

14

The technical committee will comprise 10 to 15 members responsible for revising GRI climate change-15

related Standards. With the focus on climate change-related topics, different constituencies will have16

an equal voice in the technical committee.

17

The technical committee will be divided into subgroups to develop recommendations on specific

18topics as part of the standards development. For the subgroup work, technical committee members

19

can second colleagues with specific expertise. All stakeholder constituencies on which GSSB

20

membership is based will have representation in the technical committee or its subgroups. In addition,

21

geographical, gender, and cultural diversity will be encouraged.

22In line with the due process protocol, the technical committee will report to the GSSB and seek

23

guidance and advice whenever required to advance the revision project or when they cannot reach a24

consensus. When the technical committee is satisfied that it has a proposed (set) of draft Standard(s)25that is ready for public consultation, the draft(s) are presented to the GSSB for approval.

26

According to the due process protocol, we aim to have experts from each constituency on which the27membership of the GSSB is based: business enterprise, civil society, investment institution, labor, and28

mediating institution. Furthermore, we would like to ensure topic-specific advice and expertise to29

support the technical committee and the Standards Division during content development.

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3. Proposed technical committee composition

31

Table 1. Proposed technical committee composition#NameTitle

Organization

Constituency

Region1Dr. Peiyuan

Guo

Syntao GreenFinanceBusiness
Enterprise/
Investment
Institution

Asia(TC Member)(Rating Agency)

2Christoph(TC Member)

TöpferUBA

Mediation
Institution (InterGovernmentalAgency)

EuropeExtract of background and experience
Dr. Guo Peiyuan is Chairman of SynTao Green Finance, a professional
service provider of ESG rating, green bond verification, and green
finance advisory. Dr. Guo has around 17 years of experience in ESG andsustainability. He has served a number of clients covering financial
institutions, corporations, governments, as well as internationalorganizations. Dr. Guo also serves as an ESG committee member for theChina Association for Public Companies, the Insurance AssetManagement Association of China, and the China Securities Association.
He works closely with international organizations and serves as China
Advisor to UNEP Financial Initiative and board member for AIGCC.
Dr. Guo has strong experience in reporting and climate disclosures. As aGRI Stakeholder Council member (2010-2016), he is familiar with GRI
Standards 2021. Dr. GUO supports several Chinese financial institutions
in calculating carbon emissions at operational and asset levels. He
understands relevant standards such as GHG Protocol, PCAF, TCFD,and ISSB.
Dr. Guo holds BS in environmental engineering and a Ph.D. inmanagement from Tsinghua University. He teaches an MBA course,
Business Performance and Sustainability, at the School of Economics
and Management, Tsinghua University.
Christoph Töpfer is the German Environment Agency’s (UBA) corporate
sustainability and environmental management expert. His work iscurrently focused on corporate sustainability reporting, climate change
mitigation, and risk management, as well as environmental supply chain
due diligence. He advises the German Government, EuropeanCommission, and international organizations and has initiated andsupervised various research projects in these fields. Christoph brings
extensive experience in international standardization, where he chairs aworking group to develop a series of environmental management

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standards. As part of EFRAG’s Task Force for developing Draft
European Sustainability Reporting Standards, Christoph co-led the workon the climate reporting standards ESRS E1.
Christoph is a trained economist and holds master's degrees insustainable development and technical business management. Before
his time at UBA, he was a sustainability and quality engineer in theGerman photovoltaics industry.

3Pankaj(TC member)

BhatiaWorld Resources
InstituteMediation
institution

North America

4MichaelMacrae

World Resources
InstituteMediation
institution

North America(Subgroupmember)

Pankaj Bhatia is the Acting Director of WRI’s Climate Program andDirector of GHG Protocol. Additionally, Pankaj is a leading expert andauthority on the GHG Protocol standards and tools, particularly in theareas of corporate, scope 3, mitigation action, and city accounting. He
launched and led the three-year global process that involved more than
2,300 stakeholders in developing the new GHG Protocol Scope 3 andProduct Standard released in October 2011. Further, he led GHG
Protocol teams to develop new global standards for mitigation goals,policies, and actions in the agriculture sector and cities; supported global
initiatives including CDP, SBTi, ISO, and GRI to adopt GHGP standards;
and led planning and implementation of national GHG programs in key
major economies including China, India, and Brazil. From 1998 to 2000,
he was Vice President of Tata Energy & Resources Institute, a not-forprofit research organization based in Arlington, Virginia. From 1993 to1998, he served TERI, New Delhi, on various projects related toimplementing the Montreal Protocol in India and developing
environmental policy for technology transfer and capacity building in theIndian industry.
He holds a Master's in Process Engineering from the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Delhi, and a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from theInstitute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.
Michael Macrae is a member of WRI’s GHG Protocol Secretariat,
facilitating the review and update process for the Scope 2 Guidance.
Prior to WRI, he led the development of Enel North America’s market
advocacy and regulatory strategy for the Northeastern United States,
ensuring and enabling the growth of distributed energy resources,
renewable generation and storage, demand response, and electricvehicle infrastructure. Michael has also worked with Harvard University,
managing the University’s wholesale and retail electricity market
participation and developing energy procurement strategies to meetenergy supply, environmental, and sustainability needs. Leadership
positions in that capacity included serving as Vice Chair of the NEPOOL

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End User Sector, Vice Chair of the NEPOOL-GIS working group, and amember of the joint nominating committee for the ISO-NE Board ofDirectors. With Harvard, he also oversaw the University’s state andfederal regulatory air compliance programs, including permitting a new
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit and a new District Energy Facility,
as well as managing Harvard’s voluntary Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG
inventory.
He serves on his town’s Municipal Light Board of Directors and teaches
courses on corporate carbon accounting at Harvard University. Michaelearned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, SanDiego.

5JesicaAndrews(TC Member)

United Nations
Environment
Programme
Finance Initiative(UNEP FI)

Civil Society/Investment
institution (NonGovernmentalOrganization)

EuropeJes Andrews is Investment Lead at the United Nations Environment
Programme Finance Initiative, where she leads the Investment
Leadership Programme and focuses on portfolio target-setting withinvestors in the UN-Convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance. She isalso a member of the Expert Advisory Group for Science Based Targets
Initiative and UNFCCC’s Race to Zero Campaign. Prior to working withUNEP FI, she worked on climate change projects with multiple UNagencies, governments, and private firms across some 35 countries inAfrica, Latin America, and Asia. She is the author of the G20 Sustainable
Finance Working Group Paper: High Level Recommendations forCredible Net Zero Commitments and has several times served as aninvited reviewer of the UNEP Emission Gap Reports. Simply put, Jes
supports financial institutions in understanding climate risk, developing
science-based methodologies, and aligning with the UNFCCC ParisAgreement.
She graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Mexico witha Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics and holds a Masterof Finance from the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School.

6Rahnuma(Subgroupmember)

Chowdhury

United Nations
Environment
Programme
Finance Initiative(UNEP FI)

Civil Society/
Investment
institution (NonGovernmentalOrganization)

EuropeRahnuma Chowdhury joined UNEP FI in February 2021, specializing in
the development and implementation of transition plans for investors,
specifically the Investor Climate Action Plans (ICAPs) Expectations
Ladder. She sits across UNEP FI’s Investment and Climate teams,
focusing on developing investor leadership practices in responsible
investing and building approaches to track and assess investor
performance on net zero commitments. She also acts as ICAPs Managerfor the Investor Agenda and is UNEP FI's representative on the ICAPs

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WG. Rahnuma is an Advisor to the GFANZ Workstream on Financial
Institution Transition Plans and the Steering Group for the Act 4 FinanceDecarbonising the Transition project. She was also an Expert on theRace to Zero Criteria Consultation for Transition Plans & Immediate
Action.
Prior to her role at UNEP FI, Rahnuma worked on a number of projects
relating to climate change for financial services firms, including
developing ESG frameworks, setting climate strategy, and assessing
sustainable investments within roles at QBE, PwC, and the Bank ofEngland.
Rahnuma holds a BA in Public Affairs and Policy Management with High
Honours from Carleton University in Ottawa and an MSc in Development
Management from the London School of Economics.

7Carolin

GreschUnited Nations
Environment
Programme
Finance Initiative(UNEP FI)

Civil Society/Investment
institution (NonGovernmentalOrganization)

EuropeJia

University ofOxford

Mediation
Institution(Academic)

Europe(SecondingSubgroupmember)

8Jimmy(TC Member)

Carolin Gresch is a consultant at the United Nations Environment
Programme Finance Initiative, where she has dedicated her efforts to the
Un-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. Over the past two years,
she has gained substantial expertise in the critical areas of climate target
setting and reporting while working within the Monitoring, Reporting, andVerification Track of the Alliance. In addition to supporting the Target
Setting Protocols, which are the flagship projects of the Alliance, Carolin
manages the Working Groups of the MRV Track.
Prior to her work at UNEP FI, Carolin served as a member of the Climate
Team of the Principles for Responsible Investment, contributing tovarious projects focused on financing the transition. She also provided
support to the ESG Implementation Team of the Allianz Investment
Management SE.
Carolin's academic achievements include a Master's in Management andTechnology from the Technical University of Munich, focusing on Finance& Accounting, and Mechanical Engineering.
Jimmy Jia is a research associate of Oxford Net Zero, a member of theOxford Sustainable Finance Group, and a non-stipendiary lecturer atMansfield College, Oxford. His research focuses on improving thecomparability of environmental accounting systems, such that investors
can make capital deployment decisions between entities. This helps
evaluate climate exposure on asset value, integrates environmental,social, and governance (ESG) indicators into the due diligence process,andaligns
corporate
strategywithESGgoals.
He sits on numerous boards, where he has held positions of Chair, Vice

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Chair, Chair of Strategy Committee, and member of Finance and Executive
Committees. He has sat on several CEO hiring committees and regularly
works with executives to adopt budgets and create long-term strategies toinnovateincompetitivemarkets.
Jimmy has published two books, holds five patents, and speaks
internationally on topics of energy futurism. He received his BS and MS
from MIT in Material Science and Engineering and MBA from the Universityof Oxford. He is currently a DPhil Candidate at the University of Oxford in
Sustainable Finance.

9.

José Luis

Reséndiz

University ofOxford

Mediation
Institution(Academic)

EuropeBrander

University ofEdinburgh

Mediation
Institution(Academic)

Europe(SecondingSubgroupmember)

10.

Matthew(TC Member)

José Luis is a Doctoral Researcher at the Oxford Sustainable FinanceGroup, specializing in transition finance and business modeltransformation aligned with a net-zero and nature-positive economy. His
research is focused on sustainability-linked finance and transition plans in
the power and aviation sectors. In addition to his role at Oxford, he is aResearch Fellow at Boston University's Global Development Policy
Center and a member of the Secretariat for the UK Transition Plan
Taskforce, established by HM Treasury. This taskforce aims to develop
the standard for corporate climate transition plans in the UK and informthe FCA. José Luis has provided consultation and policy advisory
services on sustainable finance and energy policy to governments andmultilateral agencies, including the World Bank and the Government ofMexico City.
Matthew is a Senior Lecturer in Carbon Accounting at the University of
Edinburgh’s Business School. His current research focuses on thedevelopment of methods for corporate, product (life cycle assessment),
project and policy-level greenhouse gas accounting. He has particularinterest in bioenergy, offsetting, electricity accounting, greenhouse gas
removal, and the alignment of financial flows with the Paris Agreement.
He has served as a member of several technical working groups for theGreenhouse Gas Protocol, and the International Organisation forStandardisation (ISO), and is on the peer review panel for BEIS/Defra’s
emission factors publication for company reporting, and the Advisory
Board for the Woodland Carbon Code. He also chairs the Climate
Advisory Group for abrdn’s Multi-Asset Climate Solutions Fund. Prior tohis current position Matthew worked for over seven years in carbon
management and greenhouse gas assessment at the Edinburgh Centrefor Carbon Management, and at Ecometrica.

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