James Brice

James is a Partner in the Strategy and Transactions service line. In this role, he brings his expertise as the former CEO of EBS Advisory, a risk and management consultancy to South African, and African industry and businesses to EY Africa.

James’s 25 years’ experience specialises in sustainable investment strategies and ethical branding; environmental and social due diligence studies; operational and risk mitigation strategies; and ESG management systems design and implementation.

James is a leading risk consultant to the private equity and financial services sectors and is the appointed broker and/or dedicated

strategic ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) advisor for over 45 funds, asset managers, hedge funds and/or banks, and

is the appointed ESG expert for three international mining consultancies in Africa.

James holds a MSc Environmental Engineering (Wits) and BSc Hons Chemical Engineering (UCT).

James’ key strengths include the implementation of:

• Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) for Private Equity General Partners

• Environmental Impact Assessments

• Environmental and Legal Compliance audits

• Site assessments and Environmental and Social Due Diligence studies in accordance with IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles

He is well-versed with the following guidelines and standards:

• ISO 14001

• AA1000 Assurance Standard

• ISAAE3000 standard

• GRI criteria

• IFCCC

• IFC Performance Standards

• Equator Principles

• GHG Protocol (ISO 14064), etc

James has lectured at the SABS, Wits University and the Gordon Institute of Business Science on:

• Hazardous Substances Management

• ESG Strategy

• Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Development

James’ memberships and associations include:

• With Danish funding, he started the Metal Finishing Industry Association, which specifically addressed issues of Cleaner Production. This project now forms part of the National Cleaner Production Centre of the Department of Trade and Industry.

• He also founded and was lead consultant to the first Waste Minimisation Institute in Gauteng, South Africa

• He was a member of Working Group on the World

Summit on Sustainable Development (with the Industrial Environmental Forum of South Africa)

• He was a member of Environmental and Water Task Teams for Business South Africa

• He was a member of the International Association for Impact Assessment

• From 2008-2009, he was the Chair of the Environmental Working Group of the Sustainability Committee at the Institute of Directors of South Africa and as such was closely involved in the drafting of the King III Code on Corporate Governance

• He sat on the advisory panel for the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership at the University of Pretoria

• He has been featured regularly in Business Day,

Financial Mail and on Summit TV as a thought leader on Sustainability and Integrated Reporting