The Role of Investors/International Institutions, and the Importance of ESG Factors in Mining Finance

This public event, as part of the Heavy Metal Killam Lecture Series, focuses on financing in the minerals exploration and mining industry, and the need for private investment companies and international financial institutions, like the International Finance Corporation, to incorporate Environmental, Social, and Governance factors in investment decisions.

Refreshments provided, please RSVP.

Register Here

Speakers:

Arjun Bhalla, International Finance Corporation 

Arjun Bhalla is the Global Climate Advisory Lead for IFC’s Infrastructure and Natural Resources Department focusing on designing decarbonization pathways and climate resilience strategies in the energy, transport and mining sectors. He is also the private sector lead for the World Bank Group Climate Smart Mining Initiative focusing on developing net zero roadmaps and community resilience plans for critical mineral value chains. Arjun is responsible for advising the private sector on sustainability issues such as climate change, community investment, supply chain management, human rights, and water stewardship. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Bhalla worked as a legal analyst in the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, as an officer with Global Affairs Canada and as an associate with Human Rights Watch. Mr. Bhalla received his BA with honors from Queen’s University in Canada and an LLM with distinction in International Law from the London School of Economics, United Kingdom.

Christie Stephenson, UBC Sauder School of Business

Christie Stephenson is the Executive Director of the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at UBC Sauder School of Business and a national expert on social and environmental investment and governance. Prior to becoming the inaugural Executive Director of the Dhillon Centre in 2016, Christie Stephenson spent more than 15 years at leading socially responsible and impacting investing firms, and previously worked in politics, government and the non-profit sector. Christie is currently a member of the Climate Governance Experts Network of the Canadian Climate Law Initiative, the Metro Vancouver Zero Emissions Innovation Centre’s investment committee, the British Columbia Securities Commission Corporate Finance Stakeholder Forum, and the International Impact and Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium. She was a 2019 Clean50 Honouree for Sustainability Education & Thought Leadership and the Dhillon Centre has been recognized three times by the BC Business “Business of Good Award” for Thought Leadership. She has served as a judge for both Governance Professionals of Canada’s Excellence in Governance Awards and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada’s Corporate Reporting Awards and delivered training through Directors College, Governance Professionals of Canada, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and UBC Sauder Executive Education.

Monika Freyman, Addenda Capital

Monika Freyman  is the Vice-President of Sustainable Investing at Addenda Capital. She uses her investment expertise and scientific backgrounds to help pension funds, endowments and foundations understand and address climate change, natural resource, water, biodiversity, human rights, diversity, equity and inclusion issues (ESG and DEI) in investment portfolios. Monika is currently board and committee member of a number of committees including the CFA Institute Board of Regents, CFA Institute, Committee on Integrating Environmental, Social and Governance Factors in Pension Plan Supervision for the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA), and Valuing Water Advisory Committee for the Government of the Netherlands. She has a Master of Science from Loyola University Chicago and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of British Columbia. 

Heavy Metal: The Future of Minerals and Sustainable Societies is a graduate course cross-listed across four departments and disciplines: UBC School of Public Policy & Global Affairs, UBC Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, UBC Keevil Institute for Mining Engineering, and UBC Allard Law. The course received and is funded by the Killam Connections Award issued by the Faculty of Graduate Studies at UBC.