Renat is a pioneer and social entrepreneur in the field of sustainability, climate change and renewable energies, where he is engaged since 1999. As a founding partner and CEO of South Pole, he coordinated the set-up of the company's global sustainability solutions business. Before founding South Pole, Renat was co-founder and CEO of the myclimate foundation, one of the world's first players on the voluntary carbon markets.

Renat has been elected "Social Entrepreneur of Switzerland" by the World Economic Forum's Schwab foundation, and he serves as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Climate Change of the WEF. He is a board member of Climate-KIC, Europe's largest public-private innovation partnership focused on climate change, a board member of Climate Friendly Pty Ltd, Australia's leading voluntary carbon company, and of Perenia Pty Ltd. He is a member of the advisory board of HUB Zurich, a platform for social entrepreneurship and MyNewEnergy, a company launching the first-ever platform to compare power products in Switzerland.

Renat holds a master degree in environmental sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and has completed executive education programs at INSEAD and the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renat_Heuberger

Christoph joined the south pole group in 2007 after 12.5 years with McKinsey & Company, Inc. where he worked as a Senior Expert for Emissions Trading and Electric Power & Natural Gas. At South Pole Group he is Chairman of the Board, CFO and one of the main shareholders.

At McKinsey Christoph was responsible for the Review of EU Emissions Trading Scheme for the EU Commission in 2005 and 2006 and advice to the UK Department of Industry and Trade concerning National Allocation Plan for 2008-2012 Kyoto period.

Christoph holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Karlsruhe University, an MSc in Energy Management & Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and IFP School, Paris, and a PhD in Economics in the field of Energy from Oldenburg University. His studies also included extensive internships in France and South Africa.

As South Pole's Advisory - Corporates and Capital Markets Anne-Franziska is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of advisory services for the corporate sector. Her cross-functional expertise lies in the field of climate change, carbon and power markets, sustainable finance and GHG emission mitigation. Her career has focussed on the integration of sustainability along corporate business supply chains and into business operations. Prior to joining South Pole in 2015, Anne-Franziska has worked for KPMG in the US and various consulting firms in North America and Europe advising on corporate sustainability management, sustainability strategy design, sustainability program set up, policy and market analyses.

Marco graduated in International and Economic Policy from the London School of Economics. Since, he has worked extensively in climate change and sustainable economy, with a particular focus on voluntary carbon markets.

His work has taken him to Canada, the United States, Belgium, Turkey, India, Switzerland and the UK, London where he lives today.

Sarah has worked in the sustainability sector for over eight years. Sarah started her career at South Pole in 2014 as a Project Manager. Quickly, she became Head of Operations for Latin America and Director of the Mexican office. As Director of the Consultancy and Services Team, Sarah is in charge of the overall management and coordination of this team.

Prior to joining South Pole, Sarah has worked with OTEK Australia where she consulted for contaminated sites and soils. She also has teaching experience, and experience working with the public sector, non-for-profit and intergovernmental organisations.

Sarah holds a MSc in Environmental Engineering from the IMT, France; in addition, Sarah has studied in Colombia at the Los Andes University.

Andrea is a seasoned sales expert with over 12 years of global insights into a range of business including airlines, shipbrokers, energy and environmental consultancy. Andrea also has a solid experience in carbon emissions/CERs and VERs Market. Heading the sales team at South Pole, Andrea coordinates global sales activities globally and has been involved to date in more than 250 projects worldwide.

Thomas is co-founder of South Pole and Director Marketing & Communications. He has a Master in Environmental Science from ETH Zürich. He has been working on climate solutions, renewable energy projects and corporate climate and sustainability action for the past 13 years. Prior to co-funding South Pole, Thomas initiated and co-directed myclimate.org, the leading Swiss non-Profit foundation for climate solutions and Seed Sustainability.

As Head of Global HR, Rebecca is responsible for developing and implementing South Pole's HR strategy, and leading the global HR team. This includes ensuring the provision of best-in-class HR programs, processes and services that enable the Company to attract, develop and retain the most talented employees, in support of South Pole's ambitious goals.

Rebecca brings to South Pole 12 years of international HR experience gained in Switzerland, Spain, US and Latin America. Her main areas of expertise are in talent management, learning & development, recruitment, compensation & benefits, employee engagement, and organisational development. She graduated in Psychology from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and holds an Executive Master's in Human Resources Management from EADA Business School in Barcelona, Spain.

Martin Christen joined South Pole's growing team in 2009 after working in administration and trust accounting at Xerox and Ernst & Young. Our Director of Central Functions is a Swiss certified expert for accounting and controlling, and a Swiss certified specialist for finance. Martin leads and oversees South Pole's global central functions (Accounting/Controlling, HR, IT and Administration) which provide all vital services to ensure we operate our core business smoothly and efficiently.

Marco Hirsbrunner is an expert in the implementation of emission reduction projects and web based management applications. At South Pole Marco is responsible for the management of the worldwide emission reduction projects pipeline and oversees several teams of local experts. Marco holds a degree in Media and Chinese studies from the University of Zurich and has solid experience in business development, project sourcing and implementation.

As Head of Operations for the Consultancy & Services Team in Europe and for the Key Account Management Team, Sophie is responsible for the overall operations of those two teams. Sophie joined South Pole in 2008. Since then, she has been evolving from project manager implementing emission reduction projects in Asia and in Africa, then senior consultant to Head of Operations.

Sophie holds a double Master degree in Environmental Engineering and Management from the French engineering Scool Centrale Nantes and from the Italian University Politecnico of Milan

Isabel Hagbrink is the Director of Communications at South Pole, a leading climate strategy and solutions company, responsible for strategic communications, branding, stakeholder engagement and advocacy efforts. She is based in Amsterdam.

Isabel was previously responsible for carbon and climate finance communications at the World Bank in Washington DC, with a focus on projects and technologies around the world that reduce emissions and earn carbon credits. Previous to the World Bank, Isabel was the Vice President for voluntary carbon markets at MGM International, originating projects that reduce emissions in the US and responsible for the relationship with US clients and Morgan Stanley, its main shareholder.

Before working at MGM International, Isabel spent nine years at the Inter-American Development Bank, where she worked with project finance as well as outreach and corporate communications.

Christian Dannecker is Director Sustainable Supply Chains and Land Use at South Pole Group, leading a team of ten experts in the development of a pipeline of reforestation, REDD+, agroforestry, agriculture, clean cook stove and biomass projects as well as providing distinct consultancy services on REDD+ readiness, NAMA, climate finance, deforestation free supply chains, standards and methodologies, policy, MRV, capacity building, and land based carbon project development. His references include for example policy advisory for FIP/ADB REDD+ investments, AFOLU NAMA development in Tunisia and Honduras, native species reforestation and species conservation projects using the VCS and the CCBS standards, and one of world's largest REDD+ projects, the Kariba REDD+ project. He also works as Director of Corporate Development for Climate Friendly, member of the South Pole Group and is board member of Natural Carbon Pty Ltd. (Brisbane). He holds a M.Sc. Environmental Sciences (ETH Zurich). He currently works in the CODE REDD member committee and in the CCBS standards committee. Christian is a recognized VCS JNR expert.

Heinz Haller, former Excecutive Vice President of the Dow Chemical Company and President of Dow EMEAI

Heinz Haller was Executive Vice President of the Dow Chemical Company and President of Dow Europe, Middle East, Africa and India (EMEAI) until 2019. In this role, Haller was responsible for Dow's operations and geographic strategies in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. He was also accountable for Government Markets and Olympic Operations and was a member of Dow's broader Executive Leadership Team.

Haller joined Dow in 1980 as a sales representative in Horgen, Switzerland and developed his career in several marketing and commercial roles across many Dow businesses including Emulsion Polymers, Specialty Chemicals and Chlorinated Solvents.

In 1994, Haller left Dow and joined the mining and chemical distribution company, Plüss-Staufer AG (OMYA), as Managing Director, a position he held for five years before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Red Bull Sauber AG and Sauber Petronas Engineering AG. In 2002, he moved to Allianz Capital Partners GmbH as one of the company's Managing Directors and remained there for four years until he rejoined Dow.

Haller returned to Dow in 2006 and assumed an executive leadership role in a variety of areas including one in Performance Products. He was named to his current role in August 2012.

Haller is member of the board of BioAmber Inc., AFG Arbonia-Forster-Holding AG, and the U.S. India Business Council.

Haller holds a master's degree in business administration from IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland. Heinz and his wife, Marlis, live in Andermatt, Switzerland, and have two adult daughters.

Vice-Chairman at Sulzer (Switzerland) and Non-Executive Director at Canadian Utilities (Canada) and (UK); member of Advisory Board of Chrysalix Cleantech Venture Capital; former member of Executive Committee at Royal Dutch Shell

Until the end of 2014, Matthias Bichsel ran the global Projects & Technology business at Royal Dutch Shell and held regional responsibilities for South Asia, Australia and Oceania. At Shell, Matthias was accountable for yearly capital investments of USD 20 billion, yearly R&D of USD 3 billion and a yearly procurement spend of USD 65 billion for third party goods and services. Matthias also presided over the global responsibility of CO₂ emissions at Shell and Shell's sustainability agenda.

Currently holding the role of Vice-Chairman at Sulzer (Switzerland) and Non-Executive Director at Canadian Utilities (Canada) and Petrofac (UK), Matthias has vast experience in building global enterprises as well as performance turn-arounds. His extensive international career has included postings in the Middle East, Asia, USA, Canada and Europe. With deep familiarity with investor relations, Matthias is a sought after external speaker at investor events and trade conferences.

Matthias Bichsel is a skilled strategist with deep experience in global economic and environment scenarios, the energy industry, capital project management and technology development & commercialisation. Through his work as Chairman of Shell's Tech Fund Advisory Board and Chairman of Board of Directors Enventure and in his current role as Adviser to Chrysalix, Matthias has amassed a solid know-how of Technology Venture Fund management. An excellent relationship builder with government partners and CEO's of oil companies and suppliers & vendors alike, Matthias has extensive experience of managing engineering and technology contractors.

Matthias holds a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from University of Basel (Switzerland) and a Master's in Geology. He is also an Honorary Professor at the Chinese University of Petroleum, Beijing.

Mahua Acharya has almost two decades of international experience in carbon markets, carbon finance and more generally issues of environmental finance and is a well-known professional in the industry. She is active in the graduate school community with having lectured at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad as is currently co-founder of the country's first executive education program on sustainable finance at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She is frequently seen presenting at conferences and occasionally contributes to newspapers.

She currently serves as Senior Advisor and Director of Asian operations of Climate Policy Initiative where she leads high-level strategic planning overall management of teams in Asia.

She was most recently, the Assistant Director-General of intergovernmental organisation the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), where she introduced green finance into the organisation's corporate agenda and established a team that worked across 16 countries. In less than three years, this practice mobilised USD 500M of financing commitments for 10 sustainable investment projects and funds in Asia and Africa. Prior to joining GGGI, Ms. Acharya was Managing Director at C-Quest Capital LLC. She has also held positions at the World Bank as well as in the private sector with ArcelorMittal, London.

She has a Masters' degree from Yale University.

Piers Cumberlege: drawing on a successful global career investing in and managing businesses in complex market and regulatory environments, Piers Cumberlege works with multinational corporations on political risk and business intelligence, and advises high-growth companies in the social media, technology, and sustainability sectors. He is Vice-Chair of the Investment Committee of Global Sustainable Capital Management; he also leads the UK Partnership of All You Need for Growth, an advisory business focused on the global start-up ecosystem, and is working with the UN SDG Lab's Pipeline Builder project, currently focusing on structuring emergency public-private sector liquidity facilities for SDG investment portfolios impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previously, Piers headed the World Economic Forum's relationships with its strategic partners and the leading global professional services firms. He has structured and managed public-private financing partnerships and served as a government adviser on corporate affairs, trade and investment policy. He has established and managed private equity funds in Russia and Africa, and is also active in the sustainable economic development space: he currently serves on the Board and Investment Committee of Engineers Without Borders. he was Head of Direct Investments at Moscow-based Delta Capital, managing a large multi-sector portfolio. More recently, he co-managed the Canada Investment Fund for Africa. In 2009, he established a social venture fund for small- and medium-size enterprises in West Africa.

Piers has over 30 years' experience in senior leadership roles in management and investment, much of it in emerging markets, across the transport, infrastructure, telecommunications, energy and manufacturing sectors, with multinational corporations including Bombardier, GEC/Marconi and Hawker Siddeley. He has also served on the boards of a number of public and private companies in Canada, Europe, Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Asia and Russia.

Piers also has a strong personal engagement in civil society: former Director of CARE Canada, Chair of CARE Enterprise Partners; currently Investment Committee Member of Engineers Without Borders Canada; and advises and participates in Crossroads Foundation's A Day in the Life of a Refugee simulation. In 2012 he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for services to development.

Furthermore, Piers is an Oxford University graduate and holds a business degree from Coventry University and ICD.D from McGill University/Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors.

Michel Pola, attorney at law, lic. iur. LL.M, studied in Zurich and Sydney. He has broad experience in corporate and transaction law, contract law and litigation. Michel Pola is a partner of the law firm Pola Theurillat & Schmid AG in Zurich. He is a board member of several Swiss companies and a lecturer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).

Christoph joined the South Pole Group in 2007 after 12.5 years with McKinsey & Company, Inc. where he worked as a Senior Expert for Emissions Trading and Electric Power & Natural Gas. At South Pole Group he is Chairman of the Board, CFO and one of the main shareholders.

At McKinsey Christoph was responsible for the Review of EU Emissions Trading Scheme for the EU Commission in 2005 and 2006 and advice to the UK Department of Industry and Trade concerning National Allocation Plan for 2008-2012 Kyoto period.

Christoph holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Karlsruhe University, an MSc in Energy Management & Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and IFP School, Paris, and a PhD in Economics in the field of Energy from Oldenburg University. His studies also included extensive internships in France and South Africa.

Patrick Buergi is an entrepreneur and expert in climate change mitigation. He has over thirteen years of experience in carbon markets and climate policy. Patrick is a co-founder of both the myclimate Foundation in 2002 and South Pole Carbon in 2006 (now South Pole Group), two leading organisations in global carbon markets.

Today, Patrick is heading South Pole Group's offering for the public sector – with a focus on advisory services (e.g. climate accounting, strategy, policy and finance), carbon credit transactions and product development/ innovation.

John is an expert within the financial sustainability market, with global experience ranging from Europe to New Zealand. Prior to joining the South Pole Group. John accumulated a decade of profound experience in the environmental and energy markets at Spectron and CF Partners. John has traded with and advised participants in all global carbon markets including the EU-ETS, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea. Within the South Pole Group, John will continue to develop the Group's offering of premium offsetting products and renewable energy certificates for the financial industry, as well as its prestigious suite of solutions for investment climate impact assessments.

Natalia is an expert in carbon markets and renewable energy with over 13 years of experience in environmental markets and consulting. At South Pole she is part of the Key Account Management team and assists a broad range of clients in meaningful climate action. She helps clients to measure their emissions and to reach emission reduction and renewable energy targets.

Based in Geneva, she is responsible for relationships with clients in French-speaking Switzerland, as well as the aviation, transport, communication, sport and technology sectors in Europe. During her career at RWE, Essent and ICF International, Natalia gained profound experience in transactions involving carbon credits and renewable energy certificates as well as consulting services to corporate clients including GHG accounting, carbon neutrality strategy and renewable energy sourcing.

With a Master in Environmental Management and a Master in Engineering, and working as a Head of Carbon Offering, Aude has gained broad skills and expertise in research, analysis, project management and procurement.

She has been instrumental in providing clients with project solutions to offset their carbon emissions and improve their sustainability footprint. Working in a close-knit team, she provides technical expertise and access to a portfolio of options based on client's personal preferences.
She conducts detailed networking, market-research, due-diligence and quality assurance to source solutions that comply with both ethical and regulatory best-practice.

Jens has gathered in-depth knowledge of a wide array of sustainability solutions including carbon footprint calculations, offsetting and carbon neutrality. With a special focus on renewable energy, Jens has worked with various stakeholders on the business development of both long term power contracts and emissions allowances.

Michael is an expert in renewable energy and carbon markets with a strong focus on and profound knowledge of the renewable energy certificates (RECs) market. Michael has gained experience as a senior consultant for a financial risk consulting company, and supported many companies in the financial and energy sector in terms of quantitative portfolio analysis.

In the post of Head of Services at GreenStream, and later Enegia, Michael was responsible for the company-wide trading and brokerage activities which included international RECs certificates as well as carbon credits. The business unit he led at Engia was consecutively voted "Best Broker - Renewable Energy Certificates - Europe" by the Environmental Finance magazine during his time with the company between 2010-2015.

Michael studied at the University of Cologne and Mathematical Finance at the Oxford University and gained his PhD degree at the Max-Planck-Institute in Hamburg. At the Max-Planck-Institute, Michael was part of an international research group with members from his institute and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

Jeff is an internationally-recognised climate change and carbon pricing expert with wide ranging international experience across the UK, EU, US and China. He was Managing Director at the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) for six year. At IETA, Jeff was key to growing new carbon markets and helping to secure Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. He manages the South Pole's services on climate policy and carbon markets, and contribute to the further growth of the company's public advisory and carbon credit offering.

Thomas has 20 years of international experience in sustainability, retail and corporate real estate. He is fluent in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and German. Thomas built up South Pole's global Marketing team as Director for 5 years, focusing on corporate branding and positioning, lead generation, communications and events, as well as project storytelling to highlight the environmental and community impacts of sustainable development. Together with his team, he provided comprehensive marketing support, empowering many of the world's leading brands on their sustainability journeys. Recently, he reinforced South Pole's business development team to add his deep expertise of Marketing to enrich South Pole's capabilities in this client-facing role. Prior to working with South Pole, he worked for leading Swiss retailer Migros, where he founded m-way electric mobility stores and the peer-to-peer car sharing platform sharoo. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Marie Christine is heading South Pole's Renewables Portfolio. Prior to this role, she worked for a Norwegian renewable energy producer focusing on unbundled certificates trading and origination. She is a board member of RECS International as well as the Rocky Mountain Institute's Business Renewable Center and as such is closely connected to regulatory and certificate market developments in Europe and the rest of the world. Marie Christine is an Economist by training and has lived in Germany, Australia, Italy and the United States before settling down in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Gaetan is an environmental economist heading up the Climate Finance Advisory practice, which is dedicated to providing climate finance advisory services and solutions that accelerate the transition to a low-carbon world.

At South Pole, Gaetan specialises in climate advisory services for national and sub-national governments, International Finance Institutions, Multilateral Development Banks and development agencies. Prior to South Pole, Gaetan held positions at Atkins, in top-tier investment banks in London and in the United Nations in Vienna, Austria.

In 2014, Gaetan contributed to the New Climate Economy's flagship report "Better Growth, Better Climate" while completing his postgraduate studies in environmental and development economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gaetan also holds an M.Sc. in Physics.

Tilmann Silber is Practice Lead Sustainable Supply Chains at South Pole. He leads South Pole's work on insetting, climate-smart agriculture (CSA), deforestation-free supply chains and water. He has overseen South Pole's insetting portfolio since 2013. His track record includes the management of several insetting portfolios on behalf of clients, a multi-stakeholder platform to promote CSA in Europe, a large-scale water program in East Africa and one of the world's largest REDD+ projects in Zimbabwe. His extensive experience includes a wide range of crops (dairy, palm oil, coffee, cotton, sugar, cocoa, flowers and others) and countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe).

Tilmann's focus is on enabling collective action along supply chains, including the design, financing, monitoring and implementation of such initiatives. He holds a M.Sc. from ETH Zurich, a CAS from St. Gallen University, and has received several academic awards.

Bastien is a Senior Business Developer and Corporate Sustainability Advisor at South Pole. He holds a Executive MBA from University of Zurich and a PhD in Environmental Science from ETH Zurich, where he also accomplished his habilitation and is still engaged as lectuerer on clean technologies and corporate sustainability. Moreover since 2007 he is member of the Swiss parliament (Green Party) and the comitee developing the Swiss environmental and energy policy (Enviornment, Spacial Planing and Energy Comitee ESPEC). He decided to join South Pole in order to support selected companies on their sustainability journey and gain more applied knowledge on the environmental and climate challenges.

As the director of project development, Bamshad is responsible for overseeing the generation of carbon credits and renewable energy certificates globally, both for the voluntary and compliance markets. The work covers a wide range of markets and coordinates the supply side of South Pole's (SP) global portfolio.

Bamshad has ample experience in the fields of climate change mitigation, renewable energy, water resource management and sustainability. During his climate change career life (since 2006) he has led and concluded handful of assignments including climate mitigation business/project development, GHG emissions accounting methodology/tool design, monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) planning, designing and implementation, as well as validation, verification and issuance management.

He has a thorough technical and business knowledge on various scopes and technology types including projects from micro to large scale in Asia, Africa, Latin/North America and the Middle East; including industrial waste heat recovery, single to combined cycle power plants, hydropower, wind energy, solar photovoltaic plants, biomass power plants, energy efficiency in buildings, wastewater and landfill gas recovery, farm and household bio-digesters, solar water heaters, efficient cookstoves and water purification systems. He is very familiar with environmental and carbon impact monitoring and accounting standards, methodologies, guidelines and tools under different schemes such as IPCC, UNFCCC, Verra (aka VCS), GS, Social Carbon, CCBS, GHG/sustainability protocols (WRI), IFC Performance Standard and Equator Principles, as well as hydropower compliance framework i.e. World Commission on Dams (WCD).

He is currently affiliated as, a member of the UNFCCC Roster of Experts; a member of the Technical Working Group of the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) co-implemented by VCS, WRI and UNEP DTU; a member of the Roster of Experts for the Gold Standard Foundation; and a member of the methodology review team for the state of California GHG Program Registry, of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), operated by Climate Action Reserve. He is a former member of the small-scale methodology working group (SSC WG) of the UNFCCC's Executive Board (May 2013 - Sep. 2017). He has a B.Sc. in irrigation and drainage engineering from Guilan University (Iran), a M.Sc. in hydro-structures and river engineering from TM Tehran University (Iran) and a M.Sc. in energy science and sustainable development from Utrecht University (Netherlands).

As Head of Carbon Procurement Esther is in charge of South Pole's global origination of emission reduction projects and manages South Pole's project portfolio. She leads the sourcing activities for voluntary and compliance carbon markets including the negotiation and procurement of emission reduction certificates and the acquisition of new projects.

Prior to joining South Pole Esther gained hands-on experience in carbon and climate finance, climate policy and the monitoring and evaluation of climate adaptation projects.

She has a M.Sc. in Sustainable Development, a B.Sc. in Economics and has gained work experience in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Brazil, Colombia, Israel and Lao PDR.

Martin is a political scientist (PhD) and economic geographer. He has more than 10 years of experience in developing and evaluating climate finance projects/programmes in developing countries (both private and international development cooperation projects), with a particular focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, transport, waste and urban development. He is a leading climate finance expert, with key analytical roles in reports like 'Mobilizing climate finance - the role of GIZ' (Client: GIZ), 'Economics of Adaptation for Climate Change' (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), the 'Global Landscape of Climate Finance', 'The Role of Public Finance in Concentrated Solar Power & Geothermal' (Climate Investment Funds - CIF) and 'Estimating mobilized private finance for adaptation' (for DFID, UK).

He contributed to innovative mechanisms under the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (Climate Development and Financing Facility, Debt Fund for Pre-Paid Energy, Energy Savings Insurance) and the finance chapters of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report 2014 and the UNEP Adaptation Gap report 2014. Through this work, he has in-depth knowledge on integration of climate change mitigation/adaptation into development bank operations (all major bilateral, multilateral and national development banks), domestic enabling environments, domestic and international climate finance, and particularly the monitoring/reporting of climate finance flows (projects for GIZ, DFID, Government of Netherlands, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment).Until 2009, he managed renewable energy, energy efficiency and biogas/waste projects in developing countries at myclimate. During his PhD (2009-2013) and his time at Climate Policy Initiative (2013-2015), he advised governments and climate funds on the costs and effectiveness of international climate finance (evaluations at policy, programme and project level). He represented the Swiss government in the international climate negotiations and advised several other governments on technical questions with climate negotiations.

Ingo has over 20 years of track record in climate policy and finance on the international level. Ingo is a carbon market pioneer and one of the world's leading experts in the design of financial support mechanisms for climate change related projects and programmes. He is a sought-after instructor on all aspects of climate policy and finance and has advised numerous international organisations, such as the World Bank, International Energy Agency, GIZ, UNDP, ADB, and developing country governments on regulations that create tangible incentives for investment in mitigation and adaptation actions. He co-founded South Pole in 2006, which quickly became a leader in developing high impact mitigation actions (on the project and program level) in developing countries. Ingo initially developed South Pole's international presence in South East Asia, leading to the development of 60 plus projects in the region, the establishment of a regional network of key stakeholders across sectors. He also leads South Pole's pipeline development of renewable energy and energy efficiency investment opportunities and designs equity investment funds in cooperation with local partners in Asia. In 2011, he launched a joint venture between South Pole and a Thai SEC-registered equity investment and advisory company that would become the operator of South Pole's first ever multi-technology renewable energy CDM programme. In this context, he successfully negotiated agreements with project developers and managed relations with government counterparts and potential international supporters.

Hans-Peter Egler is Director Public Affairs with South Pole and leads the cities practice. Prior to that Hans-Peter was CEO of Global Infrastructure Basel (GIB) Foundation. He has been instrumental in the development of SuRe® – Standard, and has long-standing expertise in international cooperation, sustainability management, capacity building, knowledge sharing and project innovation. Before joining GIB he lead the Trade Promotion Division of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Prior to that, he was responsible for investment promotion activities and infrastructure financing for Latin America and Africa. Hans-Peter was also Deputy Country Director of Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) in Bolivia and Deputy Head of Division for Latin America in charge of bilateral trade and investment issues at SECO in Bern Switzerland. Hans-Peter is currently co-heading with ICLEI the CapaCITIES project in India which focusses on climate action support in Udaipur, Siliguri, Coimbatore and Rajkot, and the EIT Climate-Kick Project on the City Finance Lab etc.

Charles is a climate solutions consultant with 20 years experience working with corporates, SMEs, the public sector and community organisations on UK-based, European and international assignments. He is leading South Pole's Corporate Climate Risks and Opportunities division with a focus on new services to meet the requirements of the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Expertise includes assessing feasibility and designing strategies for carbon reduction through energy efficiency, greenhouse gas accounting, tackling Scope III emissions, voluntary reporting (e.g. CDP and SDGs), setting science-based targets and meeting standards. This is underpinned by a good understanding of motivations including compliance, varied stakeholder expectations and staying ahead of the competitor curve. A strong interest in carbon offsetting and other ecosystem service delivery comes from credit sales in the early years of the industry, through project development of a pioneering regional offset programme, to being a validator and trustee of a leading carbon standard. He has worked widely in Africa on project development.

Charles is an experienced communications strategist who has delivered dissemination and communication for corporates, and low-carbon and climate change research projects on renewable energy and community action. He is also a published journalist.

Dominique is a Principal Consultant at South Pole. He assists companies develop and implement Sustainable Supply Chain strategies and performance improvement programs. Dominique has worked for 20 years in the field of Sustainability consulting and assurance in the UK and globally – lately at Rainforest Alliance leading its Market Transformation team, and previously as a sustainability consultant at ERM, Deloitte, and Bureau Veritas. He has worked across a number of sectors including retail, consumer goods, and agriculture/ agrifood and he delivered leading work to companies such as Danone, Doehler, Interface, Kraft Heinz, L'Oréal, Lidl, Mondi, Nespresso, Olam, Rolls-Royce, Sainsbury's, SSE, Teekanne, Tesco, Unilever, and Vodafone. Dominique has led many projects and programs related to commodity traceability, smallholder sustainable farming training and auditing, and product sustainability labeling – including in the cocoa, coffee, palm oil, tea, rubber, and clothing sectors.

Diana Rodriguez Paredes is a biologist from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia, with a Joint Master Degree in "Tropical Forestry and Management" from Dresden Technical University in Germany and "Agricultural Development" from Copenhagen University in Denmark. She has research experience in ecology and regeneration of native forests in Colombia and Ecuador where she did her bachelor's degree and master's thesis research, respectively.

She has eight years of work experience in forest and climate change. She has worked in ecological restoration while working for an NGO in Colombia; forest and climate change while at the FAO in Rome, and the World Bank in Washington DC, sustainable forest management at the World Bank and in land use for South Pole. For three years, working at the World Bank, she supported the Natural Resources and Environment Unit in the design, implementation and supervision of projects in sustainable forest management and forest conservation with local communities in Mexico, Panama, Argentina and Chile, and in land tenure in Colombia and Honduras.

While at the World Bank, she also supported the design of REDD+ projects participating in the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and El Salvador. In March 2015, she joined South Pole as a forest, agriculture and climate change specialist where she is part of the sustainable supply chain group and support the public advisory group in forest related topics. At South Pole, she has been the project manager of several projects related to deforestation free supply chains, forestry and land use change involving both private and public stakeholders.

At South Pole, she focuses on project implementation of greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation, environmental management including sustainable development. By implementing these projects, she is involved in carbon credit generation of more than 1 million tCO2 per year. She has a rich background in quality assurance and quality control at a research level, coupled with her most recent experience in climate change topics, Ladaporn displays a strong understanding and influence in maintaining quality as per the applied standards covering MRV systems. With her project track record in South East Asia, she has gained experience in many kind of renewable energy related projects such as biogas, biomass, solar, among others. This experience gives her an opportunity to understand other disciplines than her original background such as project finance, carbon markets, regulations, and climate change/energy policy aspects. In addition, she has a good set of skills in terms of project management, communication, negotiation and cooperation with various kinds of agencies including multilateral organisations, the private sector, national governments and NGOs.

René is a sustainability pioneer and entrepreneur. He has more than 30 years of experience of setting up and managing new companies and institutions on the national and international level. Recently 12 years as CEO of Myclimate foundation, he managed successfully with his team of 60 people platforms of tailormade services and 100 certified emission reduction projects focusing on energy, waste, agriculture and forestry in more than 30 developing and industrial countries. René holds a masters degree in Agro-Economics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He is also fluent in German, English, French and like as well Italien.

Marie is a South Pole consultant based in Sweden. She has 7 years experience in the green finance and reinsurance industry. She is an expert in GHG accounting and has also worked with energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. At South Pole she conducts carbon footprint calculation of corporate operations and events as well as climate finance projects. Prior to this role, Marie worked as an Energy specialist for responsAbility Investments, where she led the implementation of the carbon footprinting process and emission compensation and was central in setting up the Impact Reporting Function for the Global Climate Partnership Fund (GCPF), developing the fund carbon accounting framework and routines. Marie has a MSc. in Engineering Physics with a specialization in statistics and environment from Lund University.

Miguel is a chemical engineer and a professional in the field of sustainability solutions with 7+ years' experience. He has developed projects under different internationally recognised emissions reduction certification schemes. His experience spans sectors such as renewable energy, energy industries, manufacturing industries, and waste handling and disposal. His expertise also pertains to the outline, design and development of a portfolio of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). As a result of his involvement in these activities, he has been able to build sound knowledge regarding measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) mechanisms.

Due to his previous work within the private sector in Mexico, he was able to develop analytical skills for the assessment of different country-level pledges focused on climate change mitigation (e.g. nationally determined contribution (NDC)), regulations (e.g. National Emissions Registry) and law initiatives (e.g. national law on climate change or the law on energy transition), which have served as input for the development of comments and recommendations from the private sector to the public sector.

Yang Xuan is Regional Director for South Pole's emission reduction projects in China and many other countries. He joined South Pole in 2009 and started working with Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard (GS) and Social Carbon Standards, which pay special attention on environmental impacts of RE/EE project development. He organized local consultation meetings, made presentations to stakeholders of various backgrounds including government officers, NGOs and local residents, and produced local stakeholder consultation documents. Now he is managing a team of 7 technical consultants tasked with identifying, assessing, and realizing project opportunities in fields such as renewable energy, industrial efficiency, wastewater treatment, and biogas all over the world. The projects are located in Asia, Europe, South America and Africa. He also advises clients on China carbon emission trading schemes and corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and has been invited to a series of events as a speaker.

Naomi is a corporate sustainability specialist with particular expertise in water, land management and sustainable agriculture. Her track record at South Pole includes the development of a water stewardship strategy for the agricultural supply chain of a global consumer goods company and the development of a sustainable dairy initiative in the Middle East. Prior to joining the consulting team, Naomi worked in the business development team where she managed clients in the consumer goods area and built the sustainable supply chain business practice of South Pole. Naomi brings experience from the United Nations where she worked on corporate sustainability at UNCTAD. She also previously worked for a Swiss asset manager where she managed Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks for an emerging markets fund.

Tanushree has more than 9 years of professional experience in developing climate change mitigation projects in various sectors, GHG footprinting and co-benefits mapping and reporting services. She has been involved in the development of GHG mitigation projects in sectors such as renewable energy, biogas, cookstoves, sugar and poultry litter. She has hands on experience in managing multi-country/multi-technology Programmes of Activities (PoA's) (UN Ref 6161). She had also received training in ISO 14064.

Tanushree's other areas of expertise include Sustainable Development (SD) benefit mapping. She manages the Gold Standard (GS) Portfolio of South Pole, which is 70% of the total project portfolio. She is responsible for Sustainable Development (SD) indicator mapping and its monitoring, reporting and verification. She is also the project manager for the first Swiss GS PoA which is under development. She is also a team member of W+ standard, where she has developed the first methodology to quantify time units saved for women (as a measure for women's empowerment) in the context of a biogas project. She is also responsible for developing the first ever SD tool for UNDP to measure the improvements in NAMA.Currently, she is writing a paper for the German Government on the various mechanisms present in the world to quantify co-benefits, and how the Annex 1 Country and Non Annex 1 countries should align the objectives in order to make SDG's a huge success.

Kartick possesses both technical and managerial expertise as well as over 12 years of experience in climate change, sustainable development and environmental markets. He is a qualified Engineer-MBA with multiple certifications from some of the most renowned universities and business schools across the world as well as recognised industry organisations.

At South Pole, his present responsibilities entail commercial analysis and contractual aspects, as well as pursuing sourcing opportunities to be financed by Environmental Markets through tradable instruments and certificates like carbon credits, Renewable Energy Certificates, Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), etc. and other types of payments for environmental services. He also contributes to select consulting/advisory assignments, capacity building mandates and knowledge dissemination exercises for some of the company's esteemed clientele. In a different capacity, he also serves as a Member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), an independent technical body of the Gold Standard for providing expert advice on crucial aspects related to the world's premier sustainability-focused Environmental Certificates standard. Before that, he worked with two of the Big-4 professional services firms globally – Ernst & Young and Deloitte.

Kartick specialises in Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Energy Sector (both demand and supply sides) and Carbon/GHG Management, including GHG abatement project development (under various global mechanisms and standards) as well as GHG accounting/carbon footprint estimation and GHG inventory analysis. His experience covers various industrial sectors, such as power (and renewable energy), oil & gas, iron & steel, cement, glass, automobiles, chemicals, FMCG, buildings, waste, etc., as well as household energy. He has assisted The World Bank Group as well as the Tata Group to assess their GHG inventory and move towards a low carbon strategy. He has also been involved in national GHG inventory and climate change policy related assignments, as well as developmental support programme design and implementation.

Russ has over 20 years of experience working on sustainability issues globally. He has strong experience in programme and project management particularly with designing and implementing effective international sustainable development projects in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region. The thematic focus of his work includes climate change, sustainable agriculture, secure livelihoods development and community based natural resource management. Capacity building, both at the institutional and individual levels, has been a core aspect of his work in these areas. In all his programming work Russ has been responsible for the incorporation and design of environmental considerations and advancing social inclusion, particularly around gender and disabilities issues. He has worked for a number of international NGOs and has also worked as an independent consultant managing international development projects all involving a broad range of stakeholders. He has spent time in, and been directly involved in, initiatives in the following countries: Indonesia, Canada, Timor Leste, Laos, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Philippines, Cambodia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Zambia.

Denis is a Senior Consultant with South Pole working on topics at the intersection of finance, cities and climate change. He is managing the EU funded Low Carbon City Lab where he is actively engaged in the program management of the flagship assisting in the strategy development of the program until 2020. Within a project of the LoCaL flagship, he is the project lead for an innovative MRV solution based on mobile phone signals for the transport sector on city level developed in consortium with Telefonica Germany and Teralytics. He is the co-author of a study on climate-friendly investments and performance for the Swiss financial center and lead author of a study on the relation of water risks and the financial market commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and is the project lead for a study commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) on the integration of sustainable urban development into their international funding programmes. Furthermore, he was stationed in Bangkok, Thailand for eight months. There, he was actively engaged in preparing a feasibility study on a GCF backed energy efficiency portfolio loan guarantee for ESCOs and SMEs in Thailand and mapping the renewable energy policy landscape in South East Asia as preparation for the setup of a renewable energy impact investment facility.

Prior to joining South Pole, Denis was engaged by the Swiss Climate Foundation where he was responsible for the controlling, reporting and due diligence of energy efficiency and innovation projects in Switzerland. He holds an MSc in Atmospheric and Climate Sciences from ETH Zurich, where he specialised in atmospheric dynamics.

For over 12 years, Indra has created high-end designs (e.g flyer design, magazine, photo books and company profile layouts, etc.) for several companies. He is an expert in brand identity and can work from existing designs or from scratch.

Indra's experience allows him to work quickly and can finish some jobs in just a few hours. He works very closely with his clients to ensure that the final product meets their specifications.

Patrick is heading the South Pole's Renewable Energy Services. Prior to this role, he worked as a cleantech investment specialist for the Technology Fund and the Asia Energy Transition Fund with a focus in assessing and structuring cleantech and renewable energy deals.

Patrick complements a strong track record of entrepreneurial activities in green finance. Patrick holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering at the renowned Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Gallen. He lived and worked in Germany, Switzerland, USA, Thailand and Indonesia.

Director of Biodiversity and Environmental Assessment products in South Pole. He graduated from the National University of Colombia as a Forest Engineer and holds a Master in Forest and Environmental Conservation, and a Master in Applied Economics with an emphasis in Ecosystem Services Pricing. With over twelve years of experience, he has lead interdisciplinary teams around the world to develop Forestry, Land Use, Payment for Environmental Services, and Avoided Deforestation projects. He has certified and implemented international projects under voluntary and compliance carbon markets related to REDD+, ecosystems restoration and reforestation. In the last years, he has worked in developing strategies and policies related to biodiversity offsets, REDD+ mechanisms, ecosystems adaptation and restoration, Payment for Ecosystem Services and the integration between the public and private sectors to implement Nature Based Solutions.

Rebecca Self, formerly Chief Financial Officer of Sustainable Finance at HSBC Holdings plc, joins the company as Director of Sustainable Finance after approximately two decades of holding senior leadership roles in the financial industry.

In her previous role, Rebecca oversaw group-wide financial services relating to sustainable finance products, such as sustainability/green bonds, ESG (environmental, social, governance) asset management/private bank funds and commercial lending related to sustainability. In addition, Rebecca was responsible for HSBC's external ESG reporting and investor relations – including the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and corporate reporting on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Rebecca has chaired the European Banking Federation industry SDG working group and has been a member of other advisory groups to progress non-financial reporting. For example, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and CDP. She holds a BSc in Economics and Politics, a Certificate in Business Sustainability Management from the University of Cambridge, and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Mike joins South Pole after two decades of working with numerous brands, particularly in the fast-moving telecoms and energy sectors, to strategically position themselves for growth, successfully launch new products, and develop their sales funnels for the global shift to digital.

In his previous role as Deputy Vice President of Marketing at the UK-based SmartestEnergy, Mike introduced customer-centric marketing that resulted in significantly increased levels of customer satisfaction and engagement, and launched the UK's first certified renewable energy product for companies together with the Carbon Trust.

As Marketing Director of Climate Solutions, Mike will lead South Pole's marketing strategy and implement new digitised processes to best present South Pole's suite of climate solutions to clients. He will also be responsible for driving new product innovation.

Based in San Francisco, Jonathan is a 20+ year veteran sustainability professional focusing on business development, product development, and brand building.

Most recently, he spent over 8 years as the Director of Business Development at Sustainable Brands - the premier global community of brand innovators in social and environmental responsibility. At Sustainable Brands, Jonathan led the creation, positioning, sales and management of integrated global engagement programs.

At South Pole, Jonathan will work with the North American sales team to position the company for success, develop its client base, and work closely with South Pole's global operations.

Muireann is South Pole's regional lead consultant for North America. She has nearly a decade of experience in management consulting and corporate environmental initiatives, with a focus on climate change and energy.

At South Pole, Muireann works primarily with private sector companies to develop their climate change strategies and deliver on sustainability goals. Leveraging her background in corporate strategy, growth, and innovation, she has led engagements with companies ranging from construction to consumer goods to develop multi-year programmes that cover risk and materiality, environmental footprinting, emissions reductions and target-setting, renewable energy, climate disclosure, and progress towards “net zero." She has particular expertise in working with heavy emitters across industrial sectors and manufacturers, including oil & gas and chemicals, as well as financial services.

Previous employers include Deloitte Consulting, Innosight, and the World Economic Forum, where she was a part of the Climate Change & Environment team. Muireann has lived and worked in the United States, Switzerland, the UK, and France. She holds an MSc in Environmental Economics & Climate Change (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics, and a BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.