Susan McGeachie

Sectors: Metals & Mining, Financial Services, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Manufacturing, Retail, non-profit
Experience: Public and investor relations, investment impact due diligence and review, corporate climate and sustainability strategy, transition action plans, carbon management and accounting, human rights and supply chain due diligence, incentives and strategic asset allocation

Susan McGeachie has 25 years of experience identifying, evaluating, and managing climate change and sustainability-related risks and strategic positioning opportunities. Following her years in ESG research and analytics, she held leadership positions in banking, management consulting, and engineering firms as the Head of the BMO Climate Institute, Central Market Leader for EY’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services practice, and Global Director of the Climate Change and Sustainability practice at Hatch.

Susan is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto where she teaches a graduate course in climate finance and an executive education course through an ESG Designation program at the Rotman School of Management. She is also a member of the Climate Governance Experts panel and a former board member of the Canadian Responsible Investment Association. Susan was named to the Canadian delegation of COP 26 and 27 and, in 2021, was awarded one of twenty-six Canadian Climate Champions by the Canada Climate Law Initiative and the British High Commission. In 2014 she was named to the Clean50 and Clean 16 lists of practitioners, which recognize contributions to advancing the clean economy.

Susan is the founder of Climevest, an intermediary for investments in asset decarbonization and resilience. She also co-founded and is managing partner of the Global Climate Finance Accelerator, a nonprofit that convenes partnerships across academia, business, finance, and government on strategies, policies, procedures, and tools to finance climate solutions.

Susan received her MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University with a specialization in international finance and sustainability.

Experience and skills

Internal capacity building

  • Inform internal and client executive teams and boards on the evolution of ESG risks and opportunities arising from shifting policy signals, legislation, weather impacts, and technologies aligned with globally accepted frameworks including the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) disclosure standards
  • Align internal and client strategies with the relevant and evolving management and reporting frameworks, including GFANZ, PRI, SBTi, ISO 14064 series and 14091
  • Help shape and continuously refine ESG market strategy for professional services firms, including support for country practice heads in Canada, US, UK, Australia, and South Africa
  • Help develop and continuously review design effectiveness of controls and other systems to monitor and manage identified and emerging ESG performance against corporate commitments and targets
  • Develop transition action plans and model decarbonization pathways to continuously inform targets and implementation roadmaps
  • Design, refine, and implement sustainability reporting and disclosure strategies with corresponding data review and assurance processes and procedures
  • Increase capacity of client-facing teams on practical solutions to address ESG factors through training modules, discussion guide materials, and pitch preparation
  • Analyze ESG performance of equities to identify leading indicators of future financial performance

Market shaping

  • Map and prioritize stakeholder relationships and engagement mechanisms, including government agencies, regulators, industry associations, think tanks, NGOs, and academia
  • Regularly engage with policy makers globally in the Americas and EMEA on options to accelerate private market participation in climate and other sustainability solutions
  • Regularly produce thought leadership and present widely on ESG topics globally
  • Represent organizations on multiple industry and multi-sectoral collaborative initiatives to help design and advance financing solutions and share information with internal teams

External stakeholder engagement

  • Evaluate gaps between corporate action and net-zero pathways to inform internal response and stakeholder engagement strategies
  • Create sector-specific decarbonization roadmaps to inform internal strategy, reporting, and external partnership opportunities
  • Support development of sustainability-themed products and services

Affiliations & Certifications

  • Secretariat Lead, Net-Zero Capital Allocation Working Group, Sustainable Finance Action Council (2022 – 2023)
  • Lecturer, Rotman ESG Designation, University of Toronto (2023)
  • Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto, Climate Finance (2006 – current date)
  • Co-Chair, Electrifying Canada (2021 – 2022)
  • Canadian Climate Governance Experts (2018 – current date)
  • Representative, Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment (GRASFI), Oxford (2021)
  • Member, Environmental Finance Advisory Committee, U of T (2004 – 2019)
  • Member, Canadian Responsible Investment network (2017 – 2019)
  • Fellow, Centre of Excellence in Canadian Business (2015 – 2018)
  • Lecturer, Water Finance, Executive Education, University of Toronto (2009)
  • Lecturer, Carbon Finance Executive Education, University of Toronto (2008/09)
  • Board member, Responsible Investment Association (2004 – 2009)