About Us

Global Footprint Network is a research organization that bridges science, policy, and economics to change how the world manages its natural resources. We’ve engaged with more than 50 nations and 70 global partners to deliver scientific insights that have driven high-impact policy and investment decisions.

Global Footprint Network’s Finance for Change Initiative was launched to more deeply analyze and expose the links between climate change, resource constraints, economic performance, and sovereign credit ratings. Our methodology taps the national and trade resource accounting metrics that Global Footprint Network has been calculating for more than a decade.

Meet Our Team

Susan BurnsDirector, Finance for Change

Susan co-founded Global Footprint Network and helped build it into one of the leading scientific organizations addressing global ecological limits. Prior to launching Global Footprint Network, Susan founded the pioneering sustainability consulting firm Natural Strategies and led the development of the screening methodology for Portfolio 21, the US’s first sustainability-focused mutual fund. In 2007, along with Mathis Wackernagel, she won the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. John Elkington identified Susan among the “Zeronaut 50” Roll of Honor, i.e., leading pioneers who are driving the world’s most significant problems to zero.

Jag AlexeyevDirector, Carbon Disclosure Working Group

Jag is the Founder of Impactvesting, a research and advisory firm that helps asset managers develop sustainable investment solutions. He is also a Director of Fossil Free Indexes, a provider of research, investment products, and index solutions aligned with a low carbon economy. During the past 20 years, Jag has advised the executives of more than 100 investment management firms on market strategy, product innovation and global distribution.

David Lin, Ph.D.Lead Scientist, Resource Accounting

David leads the production and development of Global Footprint Network’s National Footprint Accounts. David earned his Ph.D. and worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the Systems Ecology Laboratory at the University of Texas at El Paso. His research focused on integrating models of ecosystem function with land cover change analysis in Arctic ecosystems.

Laurel HanscomDirector, Programs

As Director, Programs, Laurel is constantly searching for ways to increase the impact and relevance of Ecological Footprint research, especially through Global Footprint Network’s open data platform. In her role as Research Scientist, Laurel also contributes to the production and improvement of the National Footprint Accounts. Before joining Global Footprint Network, Laurel worked in the Office of Strategic Information, Research & Planning, at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, DC, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. Her two years in the Ecuadorian Amazon were preceded by a brief career as an environmental analyst at AECOM, specializing in socioeconomic and environmental justice impacts. She holds a BA and MA in geography from San Diego State University, where her research focused on climate change vulnerability and agriculture.

Annabel HertzAssociate, External Affairs

Annabel advises think tanks and nonprofit start-ups on strategy, policy and external relations. Previously, she taught International Relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and served as Global Governance Fellow at the World Economic Forum, where she also involved the private sector in disaster risk reduction/climate change. In the twelve years prior, she held senior advocacy and executive roles with NGOs. This included re-building World-WIDE, a UN organization dedicated to women and environment friendly projects and policies, and pioneering a US government supported equity investment facility for sustainable development.

Ronna KellyDirector, Communications

Ronna leads the international communications efforts for Global Footprint Network and its Finance for Change Initiative. She previously worked at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where she led the redesign and rebranding of the school’s BerkeleyHaas Magazine and managed its online newsroom and email newsletter. Before that Ronna worked as a journalist for more than a decade, covering everything from city government to transportation to business at TheStreet.Com, The Industry Standard, and The Oakland Tribune.

Amanda DiepCommunications Manager

Amanda supports the communications and outreach efforts of Global Footprint Network and its Finance for Change Initiative, including several websites and social media channels. Her prior experience includes working for the Alameda County Green Business Program, Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Everglades National Park. She holds an interdisciplinary Master’s Degree in weather, climate and society from the University of Miami in Florida and a Bachelor’s Degree in meteorology from San Jose State University.

Robert KlijnSales Consultant

Robert has 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. At ING Equity Markets Robert initiated and led Social Responsible Investment & Corporate Governance Brokerage. As a Client Portfolio Manager at APG, he was a member of the Sustainability & Governance Steering Committee. As Managing Director and ESG Specialist at Fair Impact, Robert has a focus on improving the ESG strategy of organizations. He is the Chairman of the Committee for Responsible Investments of the Dutch Association of Investment Professionals VBA.

Our Partners

Carbon Disclosure Working Group

Global Footprint Network and South Pole Group created the Carbon Disclosure Working Group to support asset owners and managers by developing a clearer framework for climate assessment and carbon disclosure in sovereign debt and facilitating greater disclosure to improve risk management. While methodologies have been developed to measure and manage the carbon footprint for corporate equity and debt, no standards for carbon disclosure of sovereign bond investments exist yet. The Working Group aims to address this gap.

Members of the working group currently include:

BlackRock (US)
MN (Asset owner in the Netherlands)
Alliance Bernstein (US)
Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM) (Belgium)
Vontobel (Switzerland)
Aegon Asset Management (Netherlands)
BT Pension Scheme (UK)
Nippon Life Global Investors (Singapore)

Facilitating Organizations:
2° Investing Initiative
Sustainable Finance Programme, University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment

For more information, please contact Jag Alexeyev, jag.alexeyev@footprintnetwork.org, +1-510-839-8879.

Finance for Change Advisory Council

The Advisory Council has been created to guide Global Footprint Network’s Finance for Change Initiative.

Members currently include:

Charles Anderson
Charles has served in a number of CEO roles across the financial services sector with a strong focus on sustainable business practice and organization development. His most recent roles were as the Director General of UNEP FI and as the CEO of Sovereign (New Zealand’s largest life and health insurance business). He now serves on a number of boards related to finance and the environment.

Ben Caldecott
Ben Caldecott is the Founder and Director of the Sustainable Finance Programme at the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He is concurrently an Adviser to The Prince of Wales’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, an Academic Visitor at the Bank of England, and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. Ben specialises in environment, energy, and sustainability issues and works at the intersection between finance, government, civil society, and academe, having held senior roles in each domain.

Darius Nassiry
Darius specializes in climate finance and investment in sustainable development. He is a senior research associate at the Overseas Development Institute, where he focuses on finance for implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, and is also a member of Climate Bonds Initiative’s recently formed advisory team.

John Fullerton
John is the Founder and President of Capital Institute; a non-partisan think-tank working to explore and effect the economic transition to a more just, regenerative, and thus sustainable way of living on this earth through the transformation of finance. Jon is also the Owner and Principal of Level 3 Capital Advisor’s LLC whose investments are focused on sustainable, regenerative land use, food and water issues. John writes the “Future of Finance” blog which is widely syndicated on platforms such as The Guardian and The Huffington Post.

Anthony Hobley
Anthony has been CEO of the Carbon Tracker Initiative since February 2014. Previously he was a partner and Global Head of the Sustainability & Climate Finance Practice at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Formerly he was General Counsel to the Climate Change Capital Carbon Fund. Anthony specialised in climate change and clean energy law as well as international environmental law. He has been heavily involved in designing carbon markets in the UK, EU, Australia and Asia. Anthony holds a First Class Honours Degree in Chemistry & Physics and a LLM in Environmental Law. He writes and speaks widely on climate risk and the financial sector.

Moritz Kraemer
Moritz is the Global Chief Rating Officer of Sovereign Ratings at S&P Global. In this role he focuses on coordinating global analytics and leading research and market outreach for S&P sovereign ratings. Prior to joining S&P, Moritz was a Country Economist with the Inter-American Development Bank, working with governments in Latin American in the design and implementation of economic policy reforms.

Richard Lewney
Richard is the Chairman of Cambridge Econometrics which has provided rigorous, accessible and relevant independent economic analysis to support strategic planners and policy-makers in business and government since 1978. Richard specializes in the application of economic modelling to policy analysis, policy evaluation and forecasting, for government and private sector clients.

Job Opportunities

No positions available at this time.