‘I was frustrated’: The woman who told Labour it didn’t need to spend £28bn on green investment

Thomas grew up in an eco-conscious family who stopped eating red meat and eschewed car ownership in the 1970s. Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer

At the start of this year, among the snowy Swiss slopes of the Davos business get-together, Rhian-Mari Thomas was ready to make an elevator pitch to the UK’s future chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

The chief executive of the Green Finance Institute (GFI) – a government-backed body that helps create and promote pro-environment financial products in the UK – had grown increasingly concerned about Labour’s £28bn green investment pledge.