Cllr Robert Chapman, Councillor, Hackney Council's Pension Committee

Robert has sat on Hackney Council's Pension Committee since becoming a councillor in 2006. He chaired it from 2014 until becoming the Council's Cabinet Member for Finance in 2022. He remains Vice-Chair and continues to play a major role in overseeing the pension fund's plans for a net zero future while providing a proper return for its present and future pensioners. The first stage of those plans produced a 97% reduction in its exposure to fossil fuel reserves between 2016 and 2022.

Robert is a member of the Shareholders Committee of the London LGPS pensions pool- the London Collective Investment Vehicle- and Chairs its Responsible Investment Reference Group.

In the Local Government Pensions world his focus has very much been on responsible investment and he has since 2019 been a Vice Chair of the Local Authorities Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF). At LAPPF he has focussed on climate change issues including heading up its engagements, as Climate Action 100+ joint lead, with ArcelorMittal and National Grid. He represents LAPFF on the national Scheme Advisory Board's Investment,Governance and Engagement Committee.

In his professional career he is an accountant (a CIPFA member) and holds an MBA. He previously worked in a variety of roles for local, regional and national government organisations.

Laura Hillis, Director, Climate and Environment at the Church of England Pensions Board

Laura is the Director, Climate and Environment at the Church of England Pensions Board and leads climate stewardship, policy and targets for the organisation as well as managing key strategic projects such as the board’s focus on corporate climate lobbying. She has nearly fifteen years of experience in sustainability and ESG focused on finance and investment, including working for Australian financial institutions such as Bank Australia and the Suncorp Group.

Most recently Laura led Climate Action 100+ for the Investor Group on Climate Change, working with over 100+ institutional investors to engage high-emitters on climate change. She also served on the Steering Committee for Climate Action 100+ and as part of the development of the Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy.

Laura holds degrees from the University of Melbourne and Queensland University of Technology and is studying a Master of Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.

Kerry King, Director Capital Markets and Fundraising at Accounting for Sustainability, A4S

Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) was set up by His Majesty The King when he was The Prince of Wales in 2004, with the aim to ensure sustainable business is business as usual. Kerry leads A4S’s Capital Markets programme to accelerate awareness and action towards a global sustainable financial system.

This includes: running the A4S Asset Owners Network for pension fund chairs, supporting their commitments to embed sustainability into their strategic and investment decisions; convening senior finance to address specific challenges faced by the financial sector; and leading on guidance to scale up adoption of sustainable action by pension scheme trustees and finance within the banking sector.

Host

Karen Shackleton, Director and Founder, Pensions for Purpose

Karen has worked in the finance sector for over 30 years. As well as being Founder of Pensions for Purpose, she is Deputy Chair of the Strategic Investment Board for the Ministry of Justice and a non-executive director and Chair of the Board of Resonance Ltd, a social impact investment company.

She sits on the Advisory Council of the Impact Investing Institute. Karen also provides independent investment advice to the London Boroughs of Islington, Camden and Hounslow through MJ Hudson. She was the Chief Executive/Managing Director of AllenbridgeEpic Investment Advisers from 2010 to 2013. Prior to that, she had ten years’ experience as a fund manager and director for County NatWest and BZW Investment Management (now BlackRock).

Paris Alignment Forum

The Paris Alignment Forum was established by Pensions for Purpose to help pension funds and other asset owners on their journey towards alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We do this by sharing climate-related thought leadership written by our members (asset managers, consultants and lawyers), by running free training workshops for trustees and by engaging in industry-wide conversation through our quarterly all-stakeholder and asset-owner events. To join the Paris Alignment Forum please email Karen Shackleton.