Head of ESG at CareSuper, Claire Molinari, has been appointed to the Nature Working Group of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA).
She will be the working group’s co-chair alongside Guy Williams, executive director at Pollination Group, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm.
Molinari has worked at CareSuper, which has signed a binding agreement to merge with Spirit Super, since January 2022 and previously worked as research manager at Australian Council of Superannuation Investors and as an ESG governance strategist at QSuper.
RIAA’s Nature Working Group is an initiative to support RIAA members in their stewardship responsibilities to protect nature and biodiversity in their business operations and their portfolio of companies.
It has a particular focus on engaging with organisations including the recommendations by the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative (ASFI), the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosure, and address nature-related financial risks in Australia and New Zealand.
The six priority areas are awareness and education for investors, nature-related risk and exposure, activating nature-related investment opportunities, strategy and systems, corporate engagement, and an external reference group.
Molinari said: “As head of ESG at CareSuper, I am responsible for understanding how environmental challenges can impact our members’ investments. A better understanding of how investments both impact and depend on nature will allow investors to more accurately assess risks. Not only that, nature provides a new frontier of opportunity for investors.
“There has been overwhelming interest in this topic and working group from RIAA members. It is an important forum for investors to share ideas with each other and with businesses and experts on nature.”
Meanwhile Williams had an extensive background in nature, having spent many years working in China and Vietnam on biodiversity and natural capital.
“Through this role, I have the opportunity to help facilitate a discussion around the role of the Australian and New Zealand financial sectors in helping the transition towards a nature-positive future. The role as co-chair also allows me to support the varied critical voices required to help our industry better value nature as part of responsible investing,” he said.
Several super funds are recognised by RIAA as Responsible Investment Leaders including Active Super, AustralianSuper, HESTA, Rest, Aware Super, UniSuper, and Cbus.
These are those funds that have demonstrated a commitment to responsible investing through the explicit consideration of ESG factors in investment, strong stewardship, and transparency in reporting activity.
