Appointment of Barbara Buchner as Professor in Practice at the Centre for Sustainable Finance
2 August 2021
The SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Barbara Buchner as Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance.
Dr Buchner is the Global Managing Director at Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), a global climate finance and policy organisation with more than 90 analysts and advisors. CPI’s mission is to help governments, businesses, and financial institutions drive economic growth while addressing climate change. Dr Buchner is also the Director of the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, a climate finance incubator managed by CPI that solicits, shapes, and tests cutting edge finance instruments that resolve financing barriers and mobilise climate finance for areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and sustainable infrastructure. Instruments from the Lab have mobilised over 2.5 billion US dollars.
Dr Buchner serves on the Advisory Board of the BCFN Foundation, the Steering Committee of the Austrian Climate Research Programme, and the Steering Committee of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report. She is also a member of the One Planet Lab, created by President Macron to identify innovative solutions and actions, create new coalitions, and make specific recommendations on global challenges linked to climate change.
Professor Ulrich Volz , the Director of the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance, says: “We are most delighted that Barbara joins our Centre as Professor in Practice. She is one of the most original and influential thinkers in the area of climate finance, and her work corresponds strongly with SOAS’s mission of contributing to global development and climate justice through research, teaching, and policy advice. Barbara has been mentoring young professionals for many years, and we are excited that our SOAS students will be able to benefit from her insights and her wealth of experience.”
Dr Buchner says: “In order to reach our ambitious climate goals, we need bold ideas that break down silos and give organisations usable data, tools and guidance to tackle their transition challenges. I’ve long admired the SOAS Centre’s interdisciplinary research on sustainable finance and am excited to participate directly in their efforts to nurture the next generation of leaders in sustainable finance.”
The SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance aims to advance the transition to an equitable, low-carbon economy by providing a forum for interdisciplinary research and teaching on sustainable finance and investment. It seeks to enhance the knowledge and understanding of sustainable finance in both the Global North and South and act as a focal point for policy debates in this area.
Located at SOAS, University of London, in the heart of one of the world’s leading financial hubs, the Centre’s research focuses on pressing issues including green financial governance; the impact of climate and nature risks on public and corporate finances; the scaling up of low-carbon and resilient investment in vulnerable countries; ESG standards; climate risk insurance; mobilising financing for the Sustainable Development Goals; low-carbon innovation policy and renewable energy investments; and the role of public financial institutions in advancing the green transition.
The Centre is part of the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment, a network of leading research universities, as well as the International Network for Sustainable Financial Policy Insights, Research, and Exchange (INSPIRE), a global research network that feeds into the work of the Network of Central Banks and Financial Supervisors for Greening the Financial System. It is also a knowledge partner of the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership and the Asia Sustainable Finance Initiative, and host to the Sustainable Finance Data Initiative, an innovative new venture gathering data on inflows and outflows of climate and sustainable finance in developing and transition economies.