BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced today the appointment of Paul Bodnar as Global Head of BlackRock Sustainable Investing (BSI). In his new role, Bodnar lead BlackRock’s sustainable investing platform and its global initiative to help clients create more sustainable, more resilient investment portfolios. Bodnar will be responsible for sustainable research, analytics, product development, and integration of ESG considerations into the investment process.

The appointment follows the departure of former Global Head of Sustainable Investing Brian Deese, who left the firm upon being named Director of the National Economic Council by the Biden Administration.

Bodnar joins BlackRock from RMI, an independent non-profit organization working to accelerate the clean energy transition, where he served as Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Director. He Bodnar founded and chaired RMI’s recently launched Center for Climate-Aligned Finance, an initiative designed to help shape the financial industry’s role in facilitating the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy and society.

Prior to joining RMI, Bodnar served under the Obama administration, including as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Energy & Climate Change. According to BlackRock, Bodnar played a critical role in the development of administration’s climate policies, including the U.S. strategy for the Paris Climate Conference, the historic U.S.-China presidential joint climate announcement of November 2014, the OECD agreement to strictly limit public financing for coal-fired power plants, and the doubling of clean energy research and development budgets by 20 major countries through the Mission Innovation initiative.

Bodnar said:

“I’m thrilled to join BlackRock as it takes major steps in its journey to become the leading sustainable investment firm in the world. BlackRock’s willingness to speak up on the risks of deferred climate action – and the opportunities inherent in the transition to a net zero economy – has brought the issue to the forefront for companies and investors. I look forward to helping BlackRock deliver innovative research, analytics and investment products across both climate risk and the full range of sustainability considerations.”