The South Pole Strategic Advisory Board is responsible for helping us and the broader climate and business community navigate the next phase of transformation across global carbon markets, and drive innovation across our climate solutions.
The Strategic Advisory Board will operate separately from our existing Board of Directors, and its responsibilities will span across providing strategic guidance to South Pole's executive team, supporting on quality and risk, and driving innovation regarding South Pole's strategy and operations.
Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy
Damilola Ogunbiyi serves on the Steering Committee of the African Carbon Markets Institute and several advisory boards, including the World Bank, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). She was part of the COP28 Advisory Committee and was Co-Chair of the COP26 Energy Transition Council (ETC). She is a global leader and advocate for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); she was named in the 2024 TIME100 Climate list and has been recognized as a trailblazer in her field.
Former Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company, Advisor to Apax Partners, and Board member
Ian Davis is currently on the board of a number of private companies and non-profit institutions. Previously, between 2013-2021 Ian was Chairman of Rolls-Royce plc and of Thoughtworks. From 2010-2023 he was NonExecutive Director of Johnson & Johnson Inc. and from 2010-2020 he was a Non-Executive Director of BP plc where he was also Senior Independent (Lead) Director. Between 2011-2017 he was a Non-Executive Director of the UK Cabinet Office, of Teach for All, an educational non profit and Big Society Capital. Ian is Senior Partner Emeritus of McKinsey & Company, where he was a consultant and partner for over 30 years. He served as Chairman and Worldwide Managing Partner of McKinsey between 2003 and 2009.
Senior Advisor and Board member, dedicated to supporting energy transition journeys; former Head of M&A and Senior Vice President of Carbon Neutral Businesses at Total Energies and Founding Chairman of the OGCI Executive Committee.
Jerome Schmitt has over 30 years of experience in the energy and mobility sectors, specializing in finance, sustainability, and business strategy. He is the Chairman of C-4WARD, which supports a portfolio of leading global institutions and start-ups on their Transitions journey. As such is in particular a Senior Advisor to Systemiq and at the Board of several start-ups in the energy transition space. Previously, Mr Schmitt was the Founding Chairman of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative Executive Committee and held senior roles at Total Energies, including Group Senior VP of Mergers and Acquisitions, SVP Net Zero Businesses and SVP Sustainable Development & Environment, where he led sustainability and climate strategies ahead of COP21.
Director of Climate and Energy Policy, Tony Blair Institute
Lindy Fursman leads the Climate and Energy Policy team at the Tony Blair Global Institute and is an expert in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Before joining the Institute, she worked for two years alongside New Zealand's Minister for Climate Change. Ms Fursman also served as Chief Advisor for Climate Change at the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment for five years. Additionally, she advised on climate change and economic policy for seven years, including roles at the New Zealand Treasury and as Economic Counsellor to the OECD.
Senior Partner and CEO at Resilient LLP
Lisa DeMarco is a Senior Partner and CEO at Resilient LLP. She is a Canadian and globally ranked expert with nearly three decades of experience in all aspects of climate and clean energy law. Lisa regularly advises on renewable power project development, energy storage projects, sustainable and climate finance transactions, carbon capture and storage, climate-related financial disclosure, corporate climate risk, ESG, green bonds, transition strategy, target setting, and compliance. Lisa is a director of the boards of the International Emissions Trading Association, MaRS Discovery District, and Planetary Technologies and member of Climate Economy Strategic Council.
Executive Vice President and Chief Impact Officer at Salesforce
Suzanne DiBianca is the Executive Vice President & Chief Impact Officer at Salesforce. In this role she leads Salesforce's stakeholder capitalism strategy, including the company's global corporate relations, sustainability, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy, with a depth of focus on climate action programs on the global journey to net zero emissions. Suzanne also oversees Salesforce's corporate philanthropy initiatives, which include supporting nonprofits focused on climate resilience, education, and workforce development. Suzanne has worked at Salesforce for more than 20 years and was previously co-founder and president of the Salesforce Foundation and Salesforce.org. Under Suzanne's leadership, Salesforce's pioneering 1-1-1 model of integrated corporate philanthropy has been adopted by tens of thousands of companies across 130 countries. Suzanne previously led Salesforce's Ventures Impact Fund which focuses on investing in next-gen cloud companies driving positive social change, and oversaw the company's Salesforce Military program focusing on up-skilling and hiring veterans. Suzanne serves on multiple councils for the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. She is a board director and trustee at the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, and board director at JGI. Suzanne is also a Senior Advisor to Lightrock, and on the Advisory Board at South Pole. She has been recognized on TIME's inaugural 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business 2023 list. Suzanne holds a degree in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
