Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE

Rhian is the Global Head of Green Banking and the founder and chair of Barclays Green Banking Council, which has developed and launched Barclays’ suite of green finance products and services. These include issuance of the first Green Bond by a UK bank backed solely by UK assets, the first Green Mortgage by a major UK high street lender and establishing Barclays as the first commercial bank with a full green Corporate Banking proposition to complement Barclays’ existing Green Bond origination capabilities.

Rhian represents Barclays on the FSB’s Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the UK Government Green Finance Taskforce, the City of London’s Green Finance Initiative and the Banking Environment Initiative’s Fintech Taskforce. Rhian is also a member of the Global Advisory Council for Oxford University’s Sustainable Finance Programme and sits on the steering group for the United Nations Environment Programme – Financial Institutions initiative.

Rhian began her 18-year banking career at Barclays Investment Bank, where she spent 10 years in Leveraged Finance and Financial Sponsors coverage before holding a succession of leadership roles across Barclays Corporate Bank and Barclaycard.

Rhian is a passionate advocate of diversity and fairness and was awarded the Barclays Woman of the Year Award 2014/15 in recognition of her efforts to support the inclusion agenda both within Barclays and the broader community. In both 2016 and 2017 Rhian was ranked in the Financial Times Outstanding Top 30 Global Executive LGBT Allies list.

A fluent Welsh speaker, Rhian holds a PhD in Physics from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland