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    Leigh-Bell Joins Erlandsson at AFII

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    Stockholm (NordSIP) – Justine Leigh-Bell has been appointed Executive Director at the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute (AFII), where she will be responsible for leading the business development and execution of AFII’s activities on rapidly shifting fixed income markets towards climate-positive impact.

    Leigh-Bell has over ten years of experience working with governments, investors and industries on defining climate investment opportunities. Most recently, she was the Deputy CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) where she successfully led CBI’s market development strategy for green bonds in emerging economies.

    - Partner Message -

    “We are at a pivotal moment in the race to net zero. Leveraging the fixed income markets will be vital to achieving our climate goals. I’m thrilled to be joining the AFII team, where together, we will strive to become the leading, credible voice on how to rapidly shift the fixed income markets to net zero,” Leigh-Bell commented on her appointment.

    A Unique Organisation

    Discussing her motivation for joining AFII, Leigh-Bell noted the fast progress the institute had made since its recent inception and the need for an organisation such as this to drive change in the fixed income markets. “I am impressed with what AFII has achieved in the last year with its informative, forward-thinking market research, respectable commentary and market-based approach to addressing the challenges faced in the fixed income markets in achieving net-zero targets,” she told NordSIP.

    Although I am extremely encouraged to see the global developments on sustainable finance, particularly with the growth of the green bonds market, we still have a lot to do in the broader fixed income markets if we are going to realise its true potential in shifting the capital required to tackle climate change. AFII is the only organisation I know that is best placed to help drive the change required,” Leigh-Bella added.

    Building AFII Into a Global Leader

    AFII’s new executive director identifies three critical issues facing sustainable fixed income investors. ”Fundamentally the fixed income market needs credible data, more transparency, and a better understanding on what we mean by a rapid climate transition in the real economy,” she explains. ”Building AFII into a global leader in this space, ensuring we can offer fixed income investors and the market overall, practical solutions and the support needed to drive positive impacts on climate,” Leigh-Bella continues.

    “I have worked closely with CBI over the past decade and observed Justine’s impressive contribution to bringing CBI to the forefront of the green bond space. AFII has had a great reception of its novel market practitioner approach to fixed income and climate impact. Justine is a crucial component to take AFII’s strategy and organisation to the next level,” Ulf Erlandsson, AFII’s CEO concluded.

    Filipe Albuquerque
    Filipe Albuquerque
    Filipe is an economist with 8 years of experience in macroeconomic and financial analysis for the Economist Intelligence Unit, the UN World Institute for Development Economic Research, the Stockholm School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Filipe holds a MSc in European Political Economy from the LSE and a MSc in Economics from the University of London, where he currently is a PhD candidate.

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