Tessa Tennant

Teresa Mary Tennant OBE (née Cormack; 29 May 1959 – 7 July 2018)[1] was a British advocate of sustainable investment. She co-founded one of the UK’s first green investment funds. She was a pioneer in the field of responsible investment and was described by The Economist in its obituary notice as "a giant of green finance."[2][3][4]

Life and career

Tennant was born in Bletchingley, Surrey, to John Cormack and Jean Davies. After attending Prior’s Field School, Godalming, Tennant studied for a Human Environmental Studies degree at King's College London. Following her graduation, she worked for the Green Alliance in the early 1980s. Subsequently, Tennant co-founded the UK’s first green investment fund, the Merlin (now Jupiter) Ecology Fund, in 1988.[1][5]

During her career, Tennant helped lead and found several influential organisations for green and responsible investors including UKSIF, AsRIA and the Carbon Disclosure Project.[6] Among many other roles, she served as a director of the Green Investment Bank.[7]

In June 2018, the Financial Times/IFC Transformational Business Awards presented Tessa Tennant with its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award and announced that this award will be named after her in future.[4] During her career, Tennant was a pioneer in the field of responsible investment. She led the creation and was first Chair of the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia based in Hong Kong (ASrIA), and The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which works with over 6,000 of the largest corporations in the world to reduce their carbon emissions.

Private life and honours

The then Teresa Cormack met Henry Lovell Tennant in South America during her gap year. He was the second son of Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner; the couple married in 1983 after four years together. Although the couple separated after two years, they did not divorce and remained close friends. Henry Tennant died from AIDS in 1990.[8][9] The couple's son, Euan, now manages The Glen, the Tennant family estate in the Scottish borders.[10] In 2007, she married Bill Staempfli, a New York-born architect.[1][11]

Awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to sustainable investment at Holyroodhouse 4 days earlier, Tennant died from ovarian cancer on 7 July 2018, aged 59.[8][12][13] She spent her last months at The Glen with her family.[1] A testimonial in The Economist paid tribute to her networking skills and ability to work with and influence diverse groups by describing her as "A rainmaker who cajoled the religious and made them greener."[2]

References
  1. Raven, Hugh (2 August 2018). "Tessa Tennant obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  2. "Remembering Tessa Tennant, giant of green finance". The Economist. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  3. "Obituary: Green investment pioneer Tessa Tennant". BusinessGreen. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  4. "Tessa Tennant wins Lifetime Achievement Award - ndci.global". ndci.global. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  5. "Obituary: Tessa Tennant - Responsible Investor". www.responsible-investor.com. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  6. "Obituary - Tessa Tennant: a long-term legacy: Environmental Finance". www.environmental-finance.com. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  7. "UK Green Investment Bank opens for business". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  8. Pendreigh, Brian (31 July 2018). "Obituary - Tessa Tennant, environmental campaigner and member of the Scottish landed gentry". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  9. Willis, Tim (23 February 2011). "The final days of London bohemian Henry Tennant". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  10. Murray, James (11 July 2018). "Obituary: Green investment pioneer Tessa Tennant". Investment Week. Retrieved 5 August 2018. (subscription required)
  11. "Interiors: The Old Larder". The Scotsman. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  12. "Tessa Tennant, bohemian socialite and pioneer of 'green' investment – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  13. "Tessa Tennant obituary". The Times. 23 July 2018. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
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