Travers Smith appoints co-heads of ESG and impact

Travers Smith has appointed Doug Bryden and Heather Gagen as co-heads of ESG and impact.

They will be supported by chair of the ESG and impact group, Simon Witney, who is a senior consultant and specialist in sustainable finance regulation.

The duo will lead the team to help deliver knowledge in the field of sustainability.

Bryden is head of environment and operational regulatory, and has 13 years of experience as a partner at Travers Smith. He has knowledge in compliance, risk management, international operational regulatory, products and trade, and environment law issues across the UK and the EU.

Gagen has been at Travers Smith for eight years, having joined as a solicitor and been promoted to partner in the dispute resolution team in 2017. She previously served at Hogan Lovells for nine years. Her commercial litigation experience includes environmental damage, human rights and product liability litigation. Her practice involves advising clients on ESG corporate risk management.

Gagen commented on her appointment: "The breadth of areas covered by the term ESG is wide and I'm excited to work with Doug to leverage our multidisciplinary experience. We want to stay ahead in this evolving market and continue to provide best-in-class and innovative advice to our clients and their businesses."

Witney recently spoke to The Drawdown on the similarities and differences between the UK and EU’s sustainability regimes, SDR and SFDR.