United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Hiro Mizuno of Japan as Special Envoy on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments.  He is a financial executive and former Executive Management Director and CIO of the Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan.
With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting societies and economies at their core, the Special Envoy will support the Secretary-General’s advocacy and engagement in global public-private dialogue to encourage action in new and unprecedented ways to shift public and private investments towards the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.  As highlighted through the Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 Initiative, it is vital to increase the pool of sustainable finance, with particular attention to removing bottlenecks to blended finance and other innovative financing instruments.
Mr. Mizuno has held numerous positions in finance, both in the private and public sectors.  A Founding Member of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative, he was also a member of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance convened by the Secretary-General.  He currently serves on the Board of the Principles for Responsible Investment Association.
He has served as Adviser to the Office of the President of the University of Tokyo, Executive Fellow of Harvard Business School, Visiting Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and a member of Global Leadership Council of Oxford Said Business School, University of Oxford.
Mr. Mizuno was awarded “Outstanding Individual Contribution” in Responsible Investor, Innovation and Industry Leadership, 2017.
He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University in the United States, and a Bachelor of Laws from Osaka City University in Japan.