HSBC has announced the appointment of Charis Martin-Ross as its new head of corporate sustainability for Australia.
Ms Martin-Ross has over 20 years of experience and most recently worked as senior manager for sustainability at Allianz Australia. She previously held roles across a number of financial services organisations including NAB and Macquarie Bank.
“We are pleased to welcome someone of Charis’ calibre to the team and believe her diverse experience will assist us in furthering our sustainability focus,” said HSBC Australia chief executive officer Antony Shaw.
“As a bank, we are committed to ensure we are operating sustainably across all communities we operate in, while also working with clients to assist with their transition plans, Charis will be playing a key role in delivering on this commitment.”
According to HSBC, Ms Martin-Ross will be responsible for leading the implementation of its climate strategy in Australia and providing counsel for key sustainability, reconciliation, and climate-related matters.
The bank is aiming to become net zero in its operations and supply chain by 2030 and is seeking to align its financed emissions to the Paris Agreement goal of net zero by 2050.
“We have set interim 2030 targets for on-balance sheet financed emissions for eight sectors with more to come in 2023,” HSBC said.
HSBC facilitated $84.2 billion worth of sustainable finance and investments in 2022 as part of its sustainable financing ambition of $1 trillion by 2030 and was the sustainability coordinator on nine of the 26 transactions closed within Australia last year.
