Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
I bring more than 30 years of professional experience combining real estate expertise with international work in sustainable finance, carbon markets and climate-related investment across four continents. My professional background is rooted in the real estate sector, where I am formally trained as a *Kaufmann der Grundstücks- und Wohnungswirtschaft* (IHK) and currently active in real estate valuation and asset-related advisory services as a Certified Real Estate Appraiser (DEKRA). Internationally, my work has focused on sustainable finance, carbon markets and climate-related innovation, including early carbon market transactions and the development of digital energy access platforms for Africa recognized with the EU Seal of Excellence. I hold an M.Sc. in International Management and additional qualifications in sustainable finance, climate finance and blockchain applications in financial inclusion.
As adverse climate impacts realize, the need for scaled up investments in adaptable and environmentally sound infrastructure in developing countries and economies in transition grows more urgent. New and increasing public fund flows are available for investment, particularly the Green Climate Fund which establishes guiding criteria for climate finance. The 2015 adopted Paris Agreement is a break-through in international mitigation policy covering all countries. It combines combines bottom-up emissions pledges with an international regulatory architecture whereas market mechanisms are reinstated as key instrument A huge amount of work needs to be done in the next years to put the agreement into action. A major challenge is to identify sufficiently large numbers of feasible projects that are in compliance with risk adjusted international standards. In addition, private investments in climate mitigation and adaptation projects have to be combined with public climate finance to reach high enough levels of overall investments needed to manage climate risks in a relatively short period of time.
The systems we need to change Climate-KIC works on transformative, systemic innovation that involves many connected innovations developing in parallel to trigger a shift in the system. We aim to take good ideas, products or services from niche to mainstream to reach a tipping point and create maximum impact. Guided by the Paris Agreement, our advisors and our community, Climate-KIC has identified cities, land use and manufacturing as the three major systems, where, if change were triggered wholesale and emissions reduced, would have the most potential in realising a climate-resilient society and net-zero carbon economy. Our approach is to carve out space for experimentation by piloting, testing and scaling. We learn from these pilots by observing the change and recalibrating our approach in response to our insights.
The Climate Chain Coalition (CCC) is an open global initiative to support collaboration among members and stakeholders to advance blockchain (distributed ledger technology) and related digital solutions (e.g. IoT, big data) to help mobilize climate finance and enhance MRV (measurement, reporting and verification) to scale climate actions for mitigation and adaptation. During the One Planet Summit on December 12, 2017 in Paris, France (the 2nd anniversary of the Paris Agreement), a multi-stakeholder group of 12 organizations working on distributed ledger technology (DLT, i.e. blockchain) held a meeting to agree to collaborate and establish an open global initiative called the Climate Chain Coalition (CCC). As of May 2018, over 80 organizations have joined the CCC. The Climate Chain Coalition membership agreed on shared principles and values to facilitate and guide activities for capacity building, networking, research, governance, demonstrations and pilot projects.
The digital revolution in Africa is well on its way. About 600 million people, half of the continent, own a mobile phone, and almost 30 percent are online. Africa is the world leader of technological innovations such as the mobile payment system M-Pesa. According to McKinsey, the internet will contribute as much as USD 300 billion to the continent’s annual gross domestic product by 2025. Overall, Information and Communication Technologies have increased prosperity, effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in a wide range of areas, from citizen participation via the internet to agricultural apps, tele-medicine and e-learning platforms. For German and European companies, the ongoing digitalisation process offers enormous potential and new business opportunities.
The world faces daunting environmental challenges. Increasing pressures on the environment are causing serious damage to ecosystems and threatening the lives of millions of people. Widespread consensus for action has been reached. Many top-down approaches, such as the promotion of green energy and green finance, have proven very effective. At the same time, there is a growing understanding that these top-down approaches must be complemented by bottom-up approaches. Emerging digital technologies are opening a unique opportunity for such bottom-up approaches. New business models and bold entrepreneurs use these technologies to address sustainability challenges at home and abroad. The “SDG FinTech Initiative” was founded by Start-ups from Frankfurt and Frankfurt Main Finance to bridge the gap between the top-down approaches by politics and big corporates and innovative bottom-up approaches from Start-ups in the field of the internationally agreed development goals.