Governments will publish updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2025 to advance climate goals. A key focus is making NDCs ‘investable’ to enable financing for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. This requires clear investment plans and encouraging private finance for government and corporate climate action. Whole-of-government transition planning can set economic incentives, support corporate ambition, and boost investor confidence. A critical question is how governments will raise the necessary funds for the low-carbon transition.
Sovereign bonds, including green bonds, provide lessons on financing climate initiatives, highlighting the need for coordination, strategic planning, and transparency. This event will feature reflections from the UK’s Green Gilt programme, focusing on how it integrates mitigation, social outcomes, and cross-ministry collaboration. Panellists will outline key features of ‘investable’ NDCs and explore real-world cases of how governments can disclose financing needs and climate-related spending, drawing on the Assessing Sovereign Climate-related Opportunities and Risks project.
Meet our speakers and chair
Thomas Dillon is Head of Sovereign ESG at Aviva Investors where he leads on sustainable investing for the sovereign asset class, including associated research, integration and engagement. Thomas joined Aviva Investors in 2019 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office where he advised ministers and senior officials on the links between economic developments and the UK’s foreign policy objectives. Thomas holds a BA in Economics and Social Studies from the University of Manchester and an MSc in Development Economics from SOAS University of London.
Rahul Ghosh is Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Moody' Investors Service. In this role, Rahul is responsible for Moody's Ratings’ strategy to systematically and transparently incorporate material ESG factors – including climate considerations – into credit ratings, analytics, research and outreach. He also leads analytical teams that produce assessments on the credentials of sustainable debt instruments and financing frameworks (Second Party Opinions) and the strength of entities’ carbon transition plans (Net Zero Assessments).
Mark Manning is Visiting Senior Fellow at Centre for Economic Transition Expertise and an independent advisor on sustainable finance. Alongside his position as a Visiting Senior Fellow in the Centre, Mark works with the IFRS Foundation, Chapter Zero, the World Bank and the Transition Plan Taskforce. His focus areas include transition planning, systems change, sustainability reporting, and sustainable investment.
Jessica Pulay is Chief Executive Officer of the UK Debt Management Office, a position she took up in July 2024, after 35 years of experience in international debt capital markets. She specializes in government and supranational financing. Before her appointment, she joined the DMO in 2015 as Co-Head of Policy & Markets and served on its Advisory Board. Previously, Jessica was Deputy Head of Funding at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and held roles at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs earlier in her career.
Antonina is a Policy Fellow and Research Project Manager at the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre (TPI Centre), an investor-backed initiative that provides asset owners and managers with data on the climate performance of companies, banks and countries. She manages the Assessing Sovereign Climate-Related Opportunities and Risks (ASCOR) project, developing the associated research and coordinating the delivery of annual country assessments.
Carmen Nuzzo is Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Executive Director of the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre (TPI Centre). Carmen leads the TPI Centre’s strategy, research, and operations. Before joining in 2023, she was Head of Fixed Income at the UN-Principles for Responsible Investment, focusing on ESG in credit risk and various debt workstreams. Since 2014, her work has centered on sustainable economics and finance, leveraging extensive experience in economic and market analysis gained at Salomon Brothers, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley.
More about this event
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The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading multidisciplinary centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise from across LSE and beyond, including on economics, finance, geography, the environment, science, law, international relations, development and political science.
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