Anna Howell is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s international corporate team, a co-chair of the global Oil & Gas Practice Group and a member of the firm's ESG practice. Ms Howell advises on complex cross-border transactions and advisory work in the energy sector with a particular focus on alternative energy, renewables, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Over her 25+ year career she has advised high-profile clients on some of their most prestigious and challenging mandates, including first entries into both mature and emerging markets throughout Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Ms Howell has advised clients on re-use and repurposing in the context of decommissioning as well as switching to cleaner fuels, energy efficiency, sustainability and emissions trading. Ms Howell spent over 11 years practising in Asia and has worked in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing.

A Denmark native, but a global citizen based in New York, Ann has 25 years of experience in the corporate world working with sustainability and purpose. She was part of founding SDG Ambition with UN Global Compact and has dedicated her life to serving as a trailblazer for the UN SDGs.

She launched SDG Ambition at the WEF in Davos, which challenges ands supports companies in being more strategic, and transformative in how they run their businesses to deliver on the 2030 Agenda and build on the ESG framework. SDG Ambition will challenge companies to set bolder goals aligned with their purpose, governance and strategy - and address barriers to speed and scale - with enterprise-wide integration that hardwires the SDGs into business management, business processes, and information technology landscapes. The first ambition launched was Business Ambition for 1.5 C. This ambition challenges companies to take bold action to redefine business models to limit the global temperature and mitigate climate change, which will require integration of new functionalities and datasets within the existing enterprise software for businesses to become sustainable enterprises. This includes carbon accounting across the value chain, carbon ledger approach, calculation of high-level carbon footprint, and more.

She also recently launched SAP Purpose Network Live to connect a community of changemakers committed to addressing the complexity caused by COVID-19. Attend upcoming virtual conversations to connect with likeminded individuals, exchange ideas and support the incredible initiatives presented by various organizations. Let's lay the foundation for a more sustainable future.