gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

Item 02 – GRI Topic Standard Projectfor Climate Change – Proposed
members for Technical Committee
For GSSB Approval
Date6 April 2023

Meeting20 April 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 second list of nominated experts for the technicalcommittee and its subgroups for 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 official
position 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........................................................................................ 5Page 2 of 9

1

1. Background2The 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 second group of nominated experts for the technical committee and its

8subgroups for approval by the GSSB. The first group of nominated experts was approved in the9March GSSB Meeting. All the nominated members have confirmed their availability and interest in

10participating in 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

With this second group of nominated experts, the technical committee comprises 10 members,

15

seconded by seven subgroup members responsible for revising GRI climate change-related Topic

16Standards. With the focus on climate change-related topics, different constituencies will have an

17equal voice in the technical committee.

18

As discussed in the March GSSB meeting, GRI aims for two additional TC members, one

19

representing the labor constituency and at least one representative from Latin America or African

20Region. GRI is interviewing candidates and expects to present final nominations for approval in the21

May GSSB meeting.

22

The technical committee is divided into subgroups to develop recommendations on specific23topics. For the subgroup work, technical committee members seconded colleagues with specific24expertise.

25

All stakeholder constituencies on which GSSB membership is based have representation in the26

technical committee or its subgroups. In addition, geographical, gender, and cultural diversity are27

established. The members represent diverse, multi-stakeholder backgrounds and bring an excellent

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combination of relevant knowledge and experience in climate change-related topics.

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Furthermore, our approach ensures topic-specific advice and expertise to support the technical

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committee and the Standards Division during content development.

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

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guidance and advice whenever required to advance the revision project or when they cannot reach a33

consensus. When the technical committee is satisfied that it has a proposed (set) of draft Standard(s)34that is ready for public consultation, the draft(s) are presented to the GSSB for approval.

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3. Proposed technical committee composition

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Table 1. Proposed technical committee composition#First name

Name

Organization

Constituency

Region1

Linsdey

LaGesseMicrosoftBusinessEnterpriseNorth
America

Rees

Shift

Civil Society

North
America(TC member)

2

Caroline(TC member)

Extract of background and experience
Lindsey LaGesse is an Environmental Sustainability professional with skills specificallylinked to operational carbon reduction activities and GHG emissions inventory
management. Lindsey specializes in corporate sustainability with experience working fortechnology, finance, and real estate focused companies.
Currently, she leads sustainability standards engagement and advocacy for Microsoft.
Her work contributes to Microsoft’s sustainability goals to be carbon negative by 2030
and remove all historical company emissions by 2050. In a large organization likeMicrosoft, Lindsey is keen on weaving sustainability throughout all aspects of thebusiness to generate impactful change. She favors collaboration, pragmatism, andcommunication to drive climate improvement through internal support and externalpartnerships.
Lindsey holds a BS in International Business and Sustainable Business and an MS in
Sustainable Management from University of Wisconsin programs.
She resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA with her husband and two dogs. In her freetime, Lindsey enjoys cooking, water skiing, and volunteering for local animal shelters.
Caroline Rees is President and Co-Founder of Shift, a non-profit organization working tobuild a world in which business gets done with respect for people’s dignity. Caroline
oversees the organization’s strategy and thought leadership work. In recent years, she
has focused on corporate reporting as a catalyst for better human rights risk
management, and on improving the data and methods used to evaluate companies’social performance as part of ESG analysis. She has written and spoken extensively on
the relevance of business respect for human rights to movements that seek to advancesustainability, equality, ESG investing, stakeholder capitalism, and human and social
capital.
Caroline was a British diplomat from 1992 to 2006. While heading the UK's human rights
team at the United Nations, she chaired the negotiations that established the mandateof the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on business and humanrights. She became lead advisor to John Ruggie after he was appointed to that role andPage 5 of 9was centrally involved in the drafting of the UN Guiding Principles on Business andHuman Rights. From 2009 to 2011 she was also Director of the Governance andAccountability Program at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Corporate Responsibility
Initiative. Caroline is a Commissioner on the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality.

3MarkHodgeShift

Civil Society(sub groupmember)

North
America

As Vice President with Shift, Mark helps shape our strategy and oversees a range of ourcollaborations with companies, governments, investors, civil society and other partners.
Mark co-led Shift’s VALUING RESPECT PROJECT, focused on developing better ways
to evaluate business respect for human rights. He has extensive insight into howbusinesses implement the UN Guiding Principles in practice. As a trained moderatorand facilitator, Mark has deep interest and experience in leading processes that addresscomplex challenges and lead to practical outcomes.
Mark has focused significantly on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in thecontext of emerging digital technologies such as AI, facial recognition, cloud computing
and social media. He has served as Senior Advisor to the UN Human Rights Business,
Human Rights and Technology (B-Tech) project to develop guidance andrecommendations for companies, States and investors about how to embed respect forhuman rights into the business of technology. Mark has also been a Technology and
Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center.
Mark was previously the Executive Director of the Global Business Initiative on HumanRights (GBI) which he co-founded in 2009. In that role he led the development of GBI’s
cross-industry peer learning program that addressed the daily realities and dilemmas ofdoing business with respect for human rights. His work also included a project onleverage in corporate lending and project finance for the Dutch Banking Sector
Agreement on International Responsible Business Conduct, and the development of aprogram of work on new digital technologies for the Institute for Human Rights andBusiness. Mark has designed and delivered training and capacity building around theworld to business leaders, NGO representatives and students, and conducted factoryand mine assessments and field visits in several countries with a focus on India, where
he was based between 2009 and 2012

4Timothy(TC member)

Letts

WWF

Civil Society

North
America

As Deputy Director for Corporate Climate Engagement at WWF-US, Tim Lettscollaborates with leading companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mobilize
value chains, and accelerate progress toward net-zero. His work with the business
community to drive climate action includes WWF's Climate Business Network,
promoting corporate adoption of science-based targets through the Science Based
Targets initiative, and tracking the corporate climate & energy landscape throughWWF’s Power Forward report series.
Prior to WWF, Tim served in the United States Navy in a variety of leadership roles. He
holds an MBA with specializations in strategy and change management from NYU, andPage 6 of 9

a BS in ocean engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Tim was a 2013
EDF Climate Corps Fellow and is based in Washington, DC.

5Svend(TC member)

BrunHansenØrstedBusinessEnterprise

EuropeSvend Hansen is a Climate and Environmental Manager in Ørsted. Since 2016, Svend
has been advising the executive management on the direction of Ørsted’s climatestrategy, to support the company’s transformation from a European-based fossil utility toa global renewable energy company. He has led Ørsted to be the first energy major toset a science-based target in 2017 and to become the first energy company with ascience-based net-zero target in 2021. Svend is a lead advisor on climate strategy
across all technologies in Ørsted’s portfolio, including offshore wind, power-to-x, supply
chain decarbonization, and nature-based solutions.
Svend brings extensive experience with corporate reporting on climate change. He has
led the work to establish Ørsted’s scope 3 reporting in collaboration with the Financeteam, together with whom he continues to ensure alignment of the company’s climate
accounting with international best-practice standards. He leads the company’s CDP
climate reporting, including the efforts to make Ørsted a global climate leader with an Ascore for four consecutive years.
Svend has 10+ years of professional experience within sustainability. Prior to joiningØrsted, Svend was a sustainability consultant in Deloitte. He holds a master’s degree inenvironmental engineering and has studied at the Technical University of Denmark andYale University.

6MichelWasherSolvay(TC member)

7David(sub groupmember)

Burns

World Resource
InstituteBusiness
EnterpriseMediatingInstitution

EuropeNorth
AmericaMichel has spent most of his career within Solvay in various functions, including
engineering, HSE, marketing and sales, strategy. Since 2012 he is deputy chiefsustainability officer, and in charge of Solvay’s extra-financial reporting. He has
implemented the GRI G4 Guidelines for Solvay’s reporting, and more recently, the GRIStandards.
From 2019 till March 2023 Michel was member of the Global Sustainability Standards
Board (GSSB), the independent body with sole responsibility for developing and issuing
the GRI Standards.
He organized the progressive evolution of Solvay’s annual reporting to a combined
report, then to an integrated report. Born in 1960, he graduated with a Master’s degreein Chemical Engineering from the Free University of Brussels.
David is a Senior Associate with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, focused on marketbased approaches, strategy development, governance, and external stakeholder
engagement. He also serves as WRI’s Natural Climate Solutions Policy Lead. Based inthe Climate Program but working closely with experts across the organization, hesupports WRI’s engagement with key stakeholders and initiatives working on Naturebased Solutions and carbon markets, guides relevant research, and coordinates
communications on the use of nature to enhance climate ambition.

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Prior to joining WRI, David served as a Senior Manager with the National Wildlife
Federation, where his work centered on eliminating deforestation and human rights
abuses from the production of globally traded agricultural commodities like palm oil, soy,and cattle products. He previously consulted for the World Bank and Climate Focus,
specializing in REDD+, carbon markets, and land-use policy.
David holds a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry(now Yale School of the Environment) and a B.A. from Bates College. He is based inWashington, DC.

8Injy

OxfordUniversity

MediatingInstitution(academia)

EuropeWilsonMicrosoftBusiness
EnterpriseNorth
America

Ally is a senior leader in Sustainability Operations with three decades of successful
experience with Microsoft in data, systems and digital transformation. In her currentrole, she leads enterprise sustainability data measurement, governance, andinternal/external disclosures. Driven by the desire to create and innovate, she is leading
efforts to transform climate physical and transition risk enterprise modelling. A relative
newcomer to the Sustainability discipline, Ally brings operational structure and discipline
to support progress against commitments. Ally is inspired by finding new ways tointegrate technology to streamline, automate and unlock solutions.

ReyesGonzález

MicrosoftBusinessEnterpriseNorth
AmericaFernando is the Environmental Monitoring & Reporting Program Manager within theCELA Sustainability team at Microsoft. In this role, he leads the measurement andreporting of environmental impacts across the business by working with stakeholders toidentify objectives, key results and environmental impacts across the organization, andcollaboratively determine goals/KPIs to track progress. Prior to Microsoft, Fernando(sub groupmember)

9Ally(sub groupmember)

10Fernando(sub groupmember)

Injy is a Research Associate within the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group working toestablish a new research programme focused on offsetting. She is a PhD Candidate inInternational Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law at Victoria University ofWellington and an Enrolled Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. Her
research focuses on conceiving Net-Zero as a source of new legal norms and delving
into their substance, including the environmental integrity of carbon markets. Injy has
attended Columbia University as a Visiting Scholar and Edinburgh Law School as a
Visiting Researcher. Prior to this, and as a Fulbright scholar, Injy gained an LLM in
Environmental and Energy Law from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She also holds
an LLB(Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington and a BSc in Physical Geography
and Economics from the University of Otago. Throughout her career Injy has worked
with and for a range of public, private and third-sector entities across four continents.
These include Oxford Net-Zero, the Global Center on Adaptation, UNESCO and the UN
MGCY. While at New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment she was the Project
Administrator for New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Act. Injy attended COP26 and COP27 asan observer focused on Article 6 Carbon Markets and is keenly interested in how Article
6 will be operationalised in coming years. She is also currently part of the Early Career
Scholars for an Inclusive Stocktake (ECSIS) program.

Johnstone

Page 8 of 9

spent 12 years with Johnson Controls, part of their corporate sustainability team leading
the internal and external reporting of environmental sustainability data; third party data
audit and CDP response; sustainability metrics projections; and supported various
sustainability initiatives. Fernando is originally from Monterrey, Mexico and has abachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Engineeringfrom ITESM (Monterrey Tec); and a Masters in Environmental Management from IITStuart School of Business in Chicago, IL.

11Avi(sub groupmember)

AllisonMicrosoftBusinessEnterprise

NorthAmericaAvi Allison is a Carbon Portfolio Strategy Lead at Microsoft, where he focuses on
Microsoft’s electricity decarbonization strategy and Microsoft’s approach to carbon
accounting. Mr. Allison’s recent work has included drafting Microsoft’s comments
regarding potential updates to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and developing Microsoft’s
approach to addressing its upstream (supply chain) and downstream (sold products)
electricity emissions. Previously, Mr. Allison worked as a program manager within
Microsoft’s Cloud Operations & Innovation Energy team, where he developed andexecuted strategies to supply Microsoft datacentres with reliable, affordable, sustainableenergy. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2020, Mr. Allison worked as a consultant withSynapse Energy Economics. In that role, Mr. Allison conducted research, developed
analyses, and authored reports and expert testimony on a variety of electric-sector
topics, including resource planning, power plant economics, rate design, market design,and emission reduction strategies. Earlier in his career, Mr. Allison conducted research
on climate change and environmental health topics for non-profit environmentalorganizations. Mr. Allison holds a Master of Environmental Management from Yale
University and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Columbia University.

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