Michelle Davies from Jones Day, joins our Branch Council in the UK

We are pleased to welcome on board Michelle Davies, Partner at Jones Day, as a UK Branch Council Member:

Bio:

Michelle Davies has in-depth experience advising global companies with their energy transition, climate change, and decarbonization solutions. Michelle has an unparalleled track record of advising clients on every facet of the transition towards clean energy and sustainable development as well as advising on sustainability regulatory compliance and wider sustainability strategy.

Michelle has worked with financial institutions, clean energy and energy transition developers and suppliers, corporations, and governments on innovative and complex mandates in the climate and sustainability space and across all forms of renewable and clean energy (onshore and offshore wind, solar, clean hydrogen, biofuels, biomass, and energy from waste). Michelle has helped clients create and finance large global decarbonized offtake structures and create finance vehicles across private and public capital markets.

Michelle has advised carbon, sustainability, and energy funds and developers and governments in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and the Middle East/Africa (MENA).

Prior to joining Jones Day, Michelle advised funds on fund raising and investments across numerous established and new energy transition assets. Michelle also advised developers on fund raising and projects globally across all technologies and worked with various governments on developing energy transition frameworks and carbon trading and funding structures. Most recently she advised an EV (electric vehicle) charging infrastructure company on a fund raise and joint venture with its new investors and advised a large Saudi corporate on a fund raise for clean energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, an Australian developer on the sale of its solar and BESS (battery energy storage system) portfolio, and an Irish developer on its solar portfolio sale.

We asked Michelle a couple questions:

• If you could personally change or influence one thing within infrastructure and/or energy, what would it be?

For there to be better alignment across all stakeholders including government departments, the public and private sector and different sectors so that more thoughtful, cost effective, and future proofed solutions could be achieved.  I think we are beginning to see this with digital infrastructure and energy but it needs to be more widely adopted with an integrated approach to include other sectors across the industrial and infrastructure landscape as all are now intertwined and to a degree co impactful.

• Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to yourself at the start of your career?

Take the time to appreciate how lucky you are to work with such incredible people in such an incredible sector.  Enjoy the challenges and don’t be scared – nothing stays the same and nor should it – embrace change and dynamism with positivity and courage and remember that you are a very small cog in a very large wheel but an important one.

Please see the full UK Branch Council below: