Whitney is a senior associate on the Climate Aligned Industries team. She works with the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance on enabling financial institutions to align their investing and lending decisions with climate goals. She also works with the Climate Finance Access Network on improving access to climate finance in least developed countries.
Prior to RMI, Whitney worked as an Analyst with NERA Economic Consulting. At NERA, Whitney supported utilities, regulatory commissions, and governments in the design and implementation of markets and auctions for energy procurement, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation. Whitney’s projects included a market for irrigation rights to protect freshwater resources, auctions for renewable resource generation, and the World Bank’s pilot facility to improve finance for projects that reduce greenhouse gases. Whitney has additionally worked with The Nature Conservancy on corporate engagement strategy for their global water funds and the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale on carbon pricing communications.
Master of Environmental Management, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
B.A. Economics, Washington University in St. Louis
Boulder, CO
If the last 18 months of banks’ climate ambitions were about announcing 2050 net-zero emissions pledges, the next 18 must be about setting interim targets. Committing to align portfolios with net zero by 2050 is a welcome market signal—but the material question remains where banks intend to be in 1,…
In the years since the 2015 Paris Agreement, net-zero or “climate-alignment” commitments have spread rapidly across financial sector, with the trend recently gaining considerable momentum in the United States. Since…
These key findings and recommendations from climate-alignment workshops can help US financial institutions make and implement net-zero commitments.
Recent months have seen major moves on climate action by some of the world’s largest private banks, including JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Morgan Stanley. What sets this latest wave of climate pledges by financial institutions apart from past announcements? Building on previous commitments that increase green investments or restrict financing…
When we think about measures to address climate change, we often think of solar panels or wind farms. While it is true that we need to transition to renewable energy, investment in clean energy generation is only one piece of an economy-wide climate puzzle. To fully decarbonize, we need to…
The halls of the United Nations climate conference (COP25) in Madrid this week have been buzzing with discussions about the complex challenges posed by climate change—and the equally complex solutions. Finance plays a central role in the debate, particularly for developing countries trying to navigate the maze of finance…