James Leaton

About this Speaker

James Leaton is a senior vice president in Moody’s global environmental, social and governance (ESG) team. In this capacity, James leads the global ESG research and outreach strategy and is a primary spokesperson on ESG. James is the lead architect of Moody’s carbon transition assessment of companies in high impact sectors. James brings expertise across environmental issues, especially climate change risk and the energy transition. James is a regular participant at high-profile market briefings, external conferences, media engagements and policy discussions related to climate risk. Prior to joining Moody’s. James was previously Research Director at Carbon Tracker - a boutique research house - where he led a team producing thematic energy research combining elements of climate change scenarios with financial analysis. James was lead author of a series of research which sparked investor interest in the concept of stranded assets, and led to a number of investor initiatives on carbon asset risk. James also advised blue-chip clients on climate change and sustainability strategy whilst a consultant at PwC and was a senior policy advisor at WWF, focusing on the biodiversity impact of extractive industries. James holds a Masters degree in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, University of London.