UK-based pensions provider Scottish Widows has named Eva Cairns as its new Head of Responsible Investment and Stewardship. Cairns has almost two decades of experience in responsible investing and climate strategy, as well as leading large-scale change projects and undertaking economic analysis. She joins from asset manager abdrn, where she spent almost 14 years. This included more than two years as head of sustainability insights and climate strategy, as part of which she was responsible for leading the firm’s sustainability research team and climate strategy for investments. Cairns has also co-authored a number of climate-related papers including on net-zero investing, climate scenario analysis and the credibility of net zero targets. “We’re aiming to halve the carbon intensity of all our investments by 2030 on our path to net zero by 2050 or sooner, and we’ve already beaten our 2025 target – investing over £1.3 billion (US$1.62 billion) in climate solution,” said Kevin Doran, Chief Investment Officer at Scottish Widows. “Eva’s expertise and knowledge of the sector will be extremely valuable in helping us achieve on our ambitious strategy, and we are look forward to working together on making ESG central to our future success.”
