Sustainable finance think-tanks Carbon Tracker and Planet Tracker to merge as current CEOs depart

Tracker Group will seek a common CEO

Carbon Tracker and Planet Tracker, the highly respected climate and nature financial think-tanks, are merging, I can reveal, with the joined groups seeking a new common CEO after Jon Grayson, CEO of Carbon Tracker and Robin Millington, CEO of Planet Tracker, recently left their respective positions.

No public announcement has yet been made on the operational merger or the departure of the respective CEOs from Carbon Tracker and Planet Tracker.

The merger extends a process that was started in July 2022 when the boards of both organisations fused under a new umbrella entity, The Tracker Group. 

The Chair of the Tracker Group board, Alice Chapple, told me: “We are merging the two organisations into the Tracker Group under a new Group CEO. In terms of day-to-day operations, much of the research will continue to be published under the separate Planet Tracker and Carbon Tracker brands, but we will increasingly also work on areas of intersection between climate and nature.”

Chapple also confirmed the hiring process of a Group CEO. She said: “Timing will depend on notice periods but we hope to have a Group CEO in place by early next year.”

Grayson had been with Carbon Tracker for just over 10 years. He was CEO for the last five years and prior to that Director General and Chief Operating Officer. Before that he was a management consultant with Mars and a cash equities research analyst with Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. 

The Tracker Group said: “We can confirm that Jon Grayson has left the CEO role but he continues to play an advisory role for the Group.” 

Millington had been with Planet Tracker for six and half years. Prior to that her roles included Director of External Relations at the European Climate Foundation, and a number of high-level corporate, policy and NGO positions.

The Tracker Group said: “We can confirm that Robin has decided to retire and is no longer CEO of Planet Tracker.”

According to Linked In data, Planet Tracker has lost four staff members since July, taking staff numbers from 27 to 23.

Linked In data for Carbon Tracker shows 51 staff. 

Carbon Tracker, which was founded in 2009, focuses on the energy transition and financial markets, looking at the consequences of investment into fossil fuels. 

Planet Tracker, which was launched in 2018 does a similar job for nature-based finance.

Both have become significant players as financial NGOs. Carbon Tracker is best known for its work on ‘stranded assets’ and the ‘carbon bubble’ and providing transition analysis for the members of Climate Action 100+.

Planet Tracker produces respected research and media campaigns on topics such as agri-business, seafood, petrochemicals, plastics and textiles. 

The day-to-day operations of Carbon and Planet Tracker, have remained distinct to date, although their websites show that they share a Chief Operating Officer in Graham Webb and a Head of Research in Richard Willis. 

The joint board said back in 2022 that it had started looking for synergies between the two, saying that the agendas of the organisations were converging. 

In its latest financial results for 2022, The Tracker Group’s income increased 22% to £7.4m after including £1.6m of donor capital made to Planet Tracker, which offset a small reduction of £300k for Carbon Tracker versus its 2021 funding. The overall reserves of The Tracker Group came to just short of £5m.

The ultimate parent of The Tracker Group is called Investor Watch, which comprises the Tracker Group (formerly Carbon Tracker Initiative), and Carbon Tracker’s US charitable arm.