Three months after announcing that it will draw up new targets to reduce its emissions from the oil and gas sector, Standard Chartered Bank has appointed a global head of sustainability strategy and net zero to lead the institution’s carbon-reduction efforts.
The role will be filled by Dana Barsky, who brings more than 25 years of experience in corporate finance, sustainability, as well as mergers and acquisitions, to the job. She is based in Singapore and will report to the bank’s chief sustainability officer Marisa Drew.
Drew was hired as the company’s first CSO last July. She is based in London.
In 2021, StanChart, which has a strong focus on emerging markets, had committed to cutting the emissions from its lending portfolio to net-zero by 2050, with interim targets to reduce financed emissions for thermal coal mining, oil and gas, and power by 2030 and mobilise US$300 billion in green finance by the end of the decade.
The bank, however, faced scrutiny in January last year for undermining its decarbonisation commitments by financing fossil fuels projects, including a fossil gas plant in Western Australia.
Barsky’s role will involve overseeing the group’s delivery of its net-zero commitments, accelerating sustainability integration across the group, building relationships across the public and private sectors, and boosting engagement with civic society. According to a press statement, she will be a key member of StanChart’s CSO team.
Barsky comes on board after a year and half as president of Growth for Good, a New York-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focused on sustainability.
She was previously global head of sustainable finance at Credit Suisse, the troubled investment bank that was acquired by UBS in June.
She held a variety of sustainability roles at Credit Suisse, including head of sustainable products and partnerships and chief operating officer for the bank’s sustainability practice.
In the statement, Drew said Barsky is “uniquely well-positioned” to help drive StanChart’s sustainability strategy and embed the company’s net-zero commitments in its overall strategy.
StanChart appointed a global head of sustainable finance last November, with Amit Puri hired to lead a green finance team established in 2018.
