SBP Board

Francis joined SBP as its first independent, non-executive chair in July 2018.

With a background in environmental science, specialising in forestry and land use, Francis spent the first 16 years of his career with WWF, the conservation organisation, in various leadership roles within WWF-UK, WWF International and WWF Netherlands. During his time with WWF, Francis played a major role in establishing the Forest Stewardship Council.

Moving to HSBC, the multinational bank, Francis spent 14 years as a Senior Adviser leading the bank’s work on integrating sustainability and climate change mitigation perspectives into the business.

Francis holds a BA (Hons) in Agriculture and Forest Sciences and an MSc in Forestry and its Relation to Land Use from St John’s College, University of Oxford, UK.

Arnie is recently retired from his position as President of the Public and Private Workers of Canada, a British Columbia based pulp and forestry union. He has worked with indigenous communities and environmental organisations to promote sustainable forestry and environmental stewardship to save old growth forests on Vancouver Island.

Winner of a 2019 Delta Clean 50 Award, which recognises clean capitalism and sustainability of industrial output in Canada. He has been involved for most of the last 20 years promoting the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada. Much of that time was spent as a sitting board member of the Social Chamber.

Martin is the Executive Chair of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). Martin joined CISL from the European Climate Foundation, where he was working as Europe Group Co-ordinator from 2015, and also led their Industry and Innovation programme.

Martin has a long track record of working on industry, environment and sustainability issues. He is also an expert advisor to the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 on climate and resource issues, a representative on the Economic and Social Committee’s Commission on Industrial Change, and a member of UCL’s European Institute Advisory Board.

Annawati (Anna) is a green growth professional with almost two decades of international experience integrating the value of nature in economic and financial decisions. Her work with various international NGOs and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) has covered projects in the Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America regions.

Anna has a long track record of working with governments, business and communities to design investment and policy solutions that shape resilient and sustainable landscapes, where biodiversity is valued and climate risks are managed. She holds several advisory roles in support of boards, committees and expert coalitions, including the Predator Free Hauraki Coromandel Community Trust, The International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy, and the Natural Capital Working Group at the Green Growth Knowledge Platform.

Anna holds an MSc in Geo-information Science and a BSc Hons in Environmental Science. Anna is of Dutch/ Indonesian origin and sees herself as a citizen of the planet. She spent many years living in remote parts of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian archipelago, followed by Europe, Australia, China, and South Korea. She is currently based in New Zealand.

Mihkel is the Chief Sustainability Officer and a Management Board Member at Graanul Invest, one of the biggest pellet producers in Europe and one of the largest independent renewable energy producers in the Baltic Sea region.

In his role, Mihkel is responsible for overseeing value chain sustainability and ESG aspects in all four countries that the company currently operates in. He is also responsible for the group’s quality management systems and contract execution.

Mihkel holds a BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Exeter and an MSc in Environmental Management and Cleaner Production from the Tallinn University of Technology.

Diane is Vice President of Sustainability for North America at Drax Group, having joined the company in 2022.

Diane is recognised as a leading Canadian forestry expert. She is a Registered Professional Forester and a Chartered Director. Diane achievements and outstanding service to the forestry profession have been recognised through the Climate Change Innovator award in 2018, and the Distinguished Forest Professional award in 2019. She was the first female Chief Forester in Canada.

Her role at Drax is to ensure the sustainability principles of climate, nature, and people positive are embedded into the North American operations of the business. She is responsible for ensuring biomass sourcing for Drax operations is sustainable, and furthering the progression of education on sustainability.

Diane has held a variety of portfolios, including being a sustainability advisor for elected officials at both the Provincial and Federal levels. Her experience covers most aspects of sustainability and forestry. She was involved in the development of some of the iconic forestry decisions of British Columbia (BC), such as the Great Bear Rainforest and ecosystem-based forest management, as well as leading the first forest certification of private forest land in BC. She has worked extensively with Indigenous Nations working towards reconciliation efforts and with local communities on landmark agreements.

Thomas is the Director and Head of the Fuel and Logistics teams in Ørsted Bioenergy. He has more than 15 years’ experience from different commercial and management roles in Ørsted (formerly known as DONG Energy).

Previously, Thomas worked as a consultant to the energy sector at PwC and Deloitte.

Thomas is a trained economist from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.

Michael is Vice President of Biomass Sourcing at HOFOR. He has more than 15 years’ experience in energy and biomass.

Prior to joining HOFOR, Michael worked with developing biomass supply chains and sustainability at Orsted.

Michael holds a MSc in Strategy and Management from Aarhus School of Business, Denmark.

David has been the Company Secretary of SBP since July 2016. He is a former solicitor with over 30 years’ experience in commerce and law. After working in private practice, including partnership in one of Scotland’s leading law firms he  transitioned to commerce, becoming a legal director in both the construction and energy sectors. Latterly he was the General Counsel and Group Company Secretary with a major international energy sector business listed on the FTSE 250.

He holds an Honours degree in Law, as well as a Diploma in Legal Practice and is a Fellow of the Law Society of Scotland. David is also a Director and Trustee  of Quarriers, a leading social care charity.