Lifetime Achievement Award: Mary Schapiro

With more than three decades of experience in public service, including major regulatory roles under four US Presidents, New Yorker Mary Schapiro is the only person ever to have led all three of America’s biggest financial watchdogs.

From its 2015 inception to the fulfilment of its mandate eight years later, Schapiro spearheaded the pioneering Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, ushering in the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards as the global baseline for sustainability-related and climate-related reporting.

Currently Vice Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, Schapiro also chairs the Climate Data Steering Committee and Global Capacity Building Coalition, helping to boost institutional knowhow around sustainable finance in developing and emerging markets.

Team of the Year

Winner: Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC)

One of the largest private backers of infrastructure and essential services in the Philippines, MPIC impressed the judges with clear evidence that sustainability-related risks and opportunities directly inform its investment, capital allocation and performance management strategies.

“Crucially,” the panel said, “the organisation demonstrated how the finance team is integral to the delivery of tangible sustainability outcomes and robust financial performance – both at headquarters and operational level.”

Changemaker of the Year

Winner: The Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI)

A global partnership between asset owners, academics and data providers, TPI plays a pivotal role in translating climate science into practical transition methodologies.

For the judges, the scheme “exemplifies what change looks like” when expertise and real-world application combine. In particular, the panel welcomed TPI’s encouragement of behavioural change among investors – a clear acknowledgement that changemaking is ultimately about outcomes, not just data.

Financial Services Innovator of the Year

Winner: Rebalance Earth

Putting resilience front and centre, this boutique asset manager specialises in financing nature-based infrastructure. In other words, it treats nature as an investible asset class – generating returns via outcome-based payments for key ecosystem services, such as flood mitigation, drought resilience and water-quality improvement.

Judges praised the firm’s “bold thinking” and its ability to turn that into “something practical, investable and scalable”.

CFO of the Year

Winner: Silvia Vilas Boas, Natura

Embodying forward-looking leadership and innovation not just within the personal care and cosmetics brand, but the profession as a whole, Vilas Boas wowed judges with her commitment to challenge conventional thinking.

“Her introduction of new financing mechanisms, her leadership on impact measurement and monetisation and her ability to influence banks and investors demonstrated boundary pushing at an extremely high level,” they noted. “This was finance being used boldly to reshape expectations and drive change.”

Rising Star

Winner: Haide Scatamacchia, Banco BV

Steeped in experience of environmental management and agriculture, Scatamacchia now leads the Transition Climate Risk framework at Brazil’s seventh-largest bank. Bringing a systems-level perspective to financial decision-making, she impressed judges with her passion for making a positive impact.

“Her growing engagement within the climate finance conversation across Latin America signals both the vision and drive to create lasting change in one of the world's most challenging and critically important natural capital markets,” they said.

Leadership awards

Climate impact: Maria Ferraro, Siemens Energy

Honoured for achievements on supplier engagement and Scope 3 decarbonisation. In the judges’ view, Ferraro demonstrated a flair for combining ambition with realism, and for addressing difficult tradeoffs in a growth environment: “Credible and authentic climate leadership from the finance role.”

Communicating integrated thinking:

JOINT WINNER: Harmit Singh, Levi Strauss & Co

Judges hailed Singh’s ability to communicate integrated thinking via a blend of core finance processes, investor discussions and capital allocation decisions. “His clear, no-nonsense use of financial language makes long-term value creation tangible and credible,” they said, showing how sustainability can “genuinely shape everyday business decisions”.

JOINT WINNER: Vodafone

Vodafone impressed the panel with its disciplined use of robust data to inform decision-making and underpin its communications. “Across a wide range of disclosures and channels there was a clear and consistent articulation of purpose and strategy – supported by credible, data-driven insights,” the judges said.

Nature and biodiversity:

JOINT WINNER: Everpure (formerly Pure Storage)

Taking a system-wide approach, data storage firm Everpure is tackling internal and external environmental impacts across its R&D, supply chain, real estate and customer functions.

For the judges, the company’s emphasis on innovation and knowledge sharing shows commitment not just to internal progress but change across the whole tech industry.

JOINT WINNER: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

Having issued the Middle East’s first-ever blue bond, highlighted as a “landmark innovation”, FAB earned judges’ praise as a “genuine regional pace setter” – the bond helping to shape new market expectations around nature-positive finance.

Judges also recognised FAB’s board-level commitment to nature and biodiversity, alongside its focus on investing in people through appropriate training.

Social impact: Eva Andriani, Grantham Centre for Sustainable Future

As co-designer of sustainability tools for street vendors and micro-entrepreneurs, Andriani was honoured for driving meaningful behavioural change at community level.

Judges said: “Her ability to work across local governments, NGOs and village councils shows potential to drive systemic change across emerging markets at a much wider scale.”