BNP Paribas Real Estate UK has appointed Donna Rourke as its director of environmental, social and governance (ESG).

In this newly created role, Ms Rouke will be responsible for driving strategy, integrating and embedding ESG into the day-to-day business to best serve clients and employees. With her extensive experience in real estate and sustainability, she will collaborate closely with senior leadership in commercial, residential and rural business lines, as well as with external industry partners, to set ambitious targets and achieve sustainable solutions.

Ms Rourke joins from the University College of Estate Management where she led the marketing communications and brand team and delivered strategic, innovation, sustainability and diversity projects. Prior to this, she held leadership roles in commercial real estate, residential property and student accommodation firms. Outside of work, she is a passionate advocate for sustainability and the environment, a founder member of the Global Responsible Futures Network and a volunteer with the Youth Adventure Trust.

Etienne Prongué, chief executive at BNP Paribas Real Estate commented: “Donna’s appointment signals our desire to continue to build and deliver a competitive and compelling offering in this crucially important area. She will direct our engagement and effective stewardship to grow our distinctive leadership position, always with our clients’ best interests at heart.

“Executing against our ESG efforts and creating a positive impact across our business is imperative to delivering value to our clients and Donna will be a critical partner in these efforts. I’m thrilled to welcome her to the firm as we continue to build our ESG platform.”