Ivan Frishberg, Senior Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer

Ivan Frishberg leads Amalgamated Bank’s global initiatives to respond to the climate crisis and advocate for climate solutions. Ivan joined Amalgamated in 2016, serving as First Vice President, Commercial Banking, and the Bank’s first sustainability banker. With over 20 years’ experience in public interest advocacy, organizing, and policy experience, he used this role to set the direction of Amalgamated Bank’s sustainability agenda.

With a career in organizing, Frishberg has worked not only to develop sector leading strategies for climate alignment, but also to rally bank commitments and collective effort from the industry to combat climate change.  This includes leadership in co-founding the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), which developed the Global Standard for the measurement and disclosure of financed emissions. With more than $64 trillion in assets, committed to measurement and disclosure of financed emissions, PCAF is recognized around the world as the standard for carbon accounting in the financial sector.

Ivan positioned Amalgamated to take a global leadership role within the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative and was co-author of guidance for how banks will set targets to reduce their financed emissions through the recently launched Net Zero Banking Alliance. Ivan was responsible for making Amalgamated Bank the first bank in the United States to have net zero commitments certified by the Science Based Targets Initiative in 2022. Ivan sits on the Steering Group of the NZBA and the Advisory Panel for the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero. 

Prior to Amalgamated Bank, Ivan was Senior Advisor and Climate Change Campaign Manager for Organizing for Action, and a Senior Advisor to the Climate Action Campaign, a multi-year national coalition effort to defend the Clean Air Act supporting new federal policies on climate and public health. Mr. Frishberg has managed major public engagement grant programs supported by Pew Charitable Trusts and served as the Political Director for Environment America and Clean Energy Works. Mr. Frishberg also worked with the Climate Briefing Service on the intersection of U.S. Climate Advocacy and the recent international climate negotiations.

Ivan currently sits on the Board of Directors of DC Water, the municipal water and sewer authority for the Washington DC region, the board of the Jefferson Academy public middle school PTO, and is Chair of the Board of Directors of Confluence Philanthropy.

Ivan regularly speaks about the responsibility that banks and financial institutions have in leading toward the clean energy future.

• “Banks and asset managers are in many ways modeling capitalism moving money away from things that we know are inherently risky, and to where the market wants it.” – Ivan Frishberg,  NPR March 16, 2022
• “A The SEC has started from a baseline of asking for full scope reporting, which is where I think this needs to be.” – Ivan Frishberg, Inside Climate, March 22, 2022
• “Our climate work is technical and strategic, but it also honors the heritage of those who work for the future. We are excited to embark on this work, engage with clients to realize our goals, and communicate our progress to our valued stakeholders.” – Ivan Frishberg, October 25, 2021

Other articles featuring Ivan:

• “Energy & Environment — Green groups say SEC rule needs teeth.”

- The Hill, March 23, 2022

• “EXCLUSIVE Shareholder group pressures U.S. banks to drop fossil fuels faster.”

- Reuters, December 16, 2021

• “The Ukraine invasion shows that banks can fix their climate problem.”

- Quartz, March 11, 2022

• “BlackRock's mighty carbon footprint.”

- Politico, February 1, 2022