A round-up of the latest executive moves in global corporate responsibility and sustainability
US president Barack Obama has appointed his new green jobs tsar. Environmental campaigner Van Jones has been named special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Jones founded Green for All, an NGO that promotes green-collar jobs.
Budget retailer Primark has appointed Katherine Kirk as its new director of ethical trade. Kirk joins from Gap, where she was a buyer for two years.
German software giant SAP has promoted Peter Graf to the new position of chief sustainability officer.
Prudential, the UK insurer, has appointed Tidjane Thiam as its new chief executive. Thiam will become the first black man to lead a FTSE 100 company.
The United Nations Global Compact has appointed six new members to its board, including leaders from DuPont and Tata. The new appointments in full are: Fernando Chico Pardo, founder and president, Promecap (Mexico); Juan De La Mota, president, Global Compact network in Spain; Charles O Holliday, chairman, DuPont (US); Cecilia Ibru, CEO and managing director, Oceanic Bank International (Nigeria); Jamshed Irani, director, Tata Sons (India); and Chey Tae-won, president and chairman, SK Group (South Korea). The compact now has 23 members on its board, representing business, civil society and labour groups, and the UN.
London mayor Boris Johnson has appointed John Plowman as the new chair of the London Sustainable Development Commission. The commission advises the mayor on sustainability.
Professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has appointed tax partner Mark Schofield to lead its global sustainability and climate change tax network. PwC now has around 80 people working on sustainability.
Good Energy, the UK renewable electricity supplier, has appointed Barney Rhys Jones as managing director. He was formerly an investment director with AIM-listed venture capital company, Low Carbon Investors.
Women 4 Women, a health and financial campaign group, has appointed E.On US vice-president of corporate responsibility and community affairs Laura Douglas to its board. She is joined by Tina Jo Walters, vice-president of philanthropy for JPMorgan Chase; Elaine Huot, vice-president of digital media at The Courier-Journal; and Lopa Mehrotra, founder and CEO of TestToob.
By Lucy Deane, Ruston Wheb Search & Selection
lucyd@rustonwheb.com