Creating Markets for Climate Investment in Emerging Economies

About the Panelists:

Jamie Fergusson, Global Director for Climate Business at the International Finance Corporation

Jamie Fergusson is IFC’s Global Director for Climate Business. Fergusson is responsible for IFC’s climate strategy and policies and the delivery of its ambitious targets to make all investments Paris Aligned. Fergusson joined IFC in 2005 and has led and contributed to a range of innovation and new business growth across IFC's investment, advisory, and support operations. Prior roles include Chief Investment Officer leading IFC’s global renewable energy investment practice, Director of Environmental and Social Risk and Policy, and Director of Strategic Business Development. He has a BA and MA in Zoology from Cambridge University, UK, and both a Master’s in Environmental Economics and Policy and an MBA from Yale University.

Veronica Nyhan-Jones, Global Head of Climate Capacity & Inclusion Accelerator at the International Finance Corporation

Veronica Nyhan Jones is Global Head of IFC’s Climate Capacity & Inclusion Accelerator incubating support to pioneering IFC investments in transition and sustainable finance, nature and biodiversity, circular economy, inclusion, gender and just transition. Part of IFC’s Climate Business management team, Veronica works to increase the volume of sustainable/climate finance, influence the quality of global standards, and enhance climate leadership across industries. To ensure credibility of Transition Finance in emerging markets, her team is piloting investments with rigor and materiality in partnership with ambitious clients and international NGOs. A long-time sustainability champion, Veronica previously managed IFC’s Global Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory group to develop groundbreaking services and knowledge in Climate Smart Mining; Benefit Sharing in Hydro, Wind & Solar; Social Targets in Sustainability-Linked Finance; Gender leadership in Infrastructure; plus Disclosure & Open Data for social and climate accountability. Veronica founded IFC’s global Sustainability Exchanges & Roundtables plus Commdev.org, IFC’s external repository to share best practice in community-private sector development. Prior to IFC, Veronica worked at the World Bank, the White House, the International Youth Foundation and she holds a Master’s from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Meaghan McGrath, Global Head of Partnerships at the International Finance Corporation

Meaghan McGrath is Global Head of Partnerships at IFC. She was formerly Global Head, Syndications and before that Chief Counsel, Debt Mobilization.  She established IFC's legal work for the innovative Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP) and has led the multiple teams involved in the creation of the MCPP Infrastructure initiatives. During her tenure at IFC, McGrath has been actively involved in structuring, negotiating, and documenting debt and equity investments in projects in over 30 countries and has built upon her expertise in infrastructure projects as well as debt mobilization. Meaghan graduated cum laude from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1989 with a B.A. in Political Science where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University in 1992 with honors.

About the Moderator:

Marshall Burke, Faculty Affiliate at the King Center on Global Development

Marshall Burke is an associate professor in the Global Environmental Policy unit in the Doerr School of Sustainability, deputy director at the Center on Food Security and the Environment, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Woods Institute, and SIEPR at Stanford University. He is also a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a co-founder of AtlasAI, a remote sensing start-up. His research focuses on social and economic impacts of environmental change and on measuring and understanding economic development in emerging markets. His work has appeared in both economic and scientific journals, including recent publications in Nature, Science, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, and The Lancet. He holds a PhD in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA in international relations from Stanford University.