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Nick Robins

Professor in Practice - Sustainable Finance

Nick Robins

Nick joined the Grantham Research Institute in February 2018 as Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance. Nick leads the sustainable finance research theme. The focus of his work is on how to mobilise finance for climate action in ways that support a just transition, promoting the role of central banks and regulators in achieving sustainable development and investigating how the financial system can support the restoration of nature.

Nick is author of The Road to Net Zero Finance for the UK’s Climate Change Committee and co-founder of the Financing the Just Transition Alliance and is also a Commissioner on Scotland’s Just Transition Commission. He leads the finance platform for the Place-based Climate Action Network, and is co-chair of the International Network for  Sustainable Finance Policy Insights, Research and Exchange (INSPIRE).

Background

From 2014 to 2018, Nick was co-director of UN Environment’s Inquiry into a Sustainable Finance System. As part of this, Nick established the Sustainable Insurance Forum of regulators and the Financial Centres for Sustainability network, as well as leading country activities in Brazil, the EU, India, Italy and the UK.

Before joining UNEP, he was Head of the Climate Change Centre of Excellence at HSBC. Prior to HSBC, Nick was head of Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) funds at Henderson Global Investors. Nick has also worked at the International Institute for Environment and Development, the European Commission and the Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Nick is co-founder of Carbon Tracker and also co-founder of Planet Tracker. Nick has published widely and is the author of The Corporation that Changed the World: How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational‘ (2005) and co-editor of Sustainable Investing: the Art of Long-Term Performance (2008). He is currently working on an ecological history of England and a book on finance, climate change and justice. He has a BA in History from Cambridge University and an MSc in International Relations from LSE.