Leading industry figures Simon Thompson and Evy Hambro join Critical Resource’s Senior Advisory Panel

Two leading industry figures have joined Critical Resource’s Senior Advisory Panel, reflecting the critical importance of sustainability and ‘license to operate’ challenges now facing the energy and mining sectors.

Today Critical Resource is delighted to announce two new members of its Senior Advisory Panel, bringing together eminent figures from industry, finance, global development, the media, and academia to address sustainability and ‘license to operate’ challenges facing the energy and mining sectors. The announcement comes amid a growing recognition within these sectors of the need to take action on issues like corruption, human rights and climate change to protect the long-term sustainability of investments. The new Panel will provide Critical Resource with guidance on socially-responsible ways of managing these issues, as well as other emerging trends facing the industry.

The new members of Critical Resource’s Senior Advisory Panel are:

• Evy Hambro is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of the Natural Resources Equity Team at BlackRock, and BlackRock’s Global Head of Commodities. He is one of the world’s most influential resource investors.
• Simon Thompson will become Chairman of Rio Tinto from March 2018. Among his previous roles, he was chairman of Tullow Oil, a non-executive director of Newmont Mining, and an executive director of Anglo American.

The other members of Critical Resource’s Senior Advisory Panel are:

• Professor Sir Paul Collier, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Oxford University. One of the world’s leading experts on African and resource-rich economies, he is the author of ‘The Bottom Billion’ and ‘The Plundered Planet’.
• Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief of The Economist, and globally-respected commentator and consultant on international affairs. He is author of, among other books, ‘The Fate of the West’ and ‘Rivals’.
• Charles Holliday, Chairman of Shell. A former chair of Bank of America and CEO of DuPont, he is a leading advocate of sustainability in business, and has served as chair of World Business Council for Sustainable Development and as a board member of WWF.
• Rachel Kyte, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All. Previously Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change and Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank Group.
• Karina Litvack, Non-Executive Director of Eni, the Italian oil and gas major. An expert in sustainable investment, she previously led F&C Investment’s socially-responsible investment activities. Member of the Advisory Council to Transparency International UK. Previously served on the board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Critical Resource’s Managing Director and Founder Daniel Litvin says, ‘We are delighted to have attracted such an eminent and globally-respected group of individuals to join our Panel. At a time when companies are facing growing challenges in managing issues as diverse and complex as climate change, resource nationalism, and corruption, their commitment reflects the growing recognition within and beyond the industry of the need for companies to tackle these risks in a highly proactive, strategic and responsible way.’