We are pleased to share that the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance has announced the appointment of Dr Jakob Thomä as a Senior Fellow. Jakob is one of the leading global experts on sustainability and climate risk measurement in financial markets. As Managing Director of the 2° Investing Initiative, Jakob leads one of the largest independent financial sector think tanks in the world. Jakob is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Japanese Financial Services Agency and serves on the Advisory Committee of the International Network for Sustainable Financial Policy Insights, Research, and Exchange (INSPIRE), a global research stakeholder of the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System. Jakob has served in senior advisory roles to a range of financial supervisors on climate risk stress-testing, including the California Insurance Commissioner, the European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority, and the Bank of England. He also advises large international banks with collectively over $20 trillion in assets on their climate strategies, most notably the “Katowice Banks” – a group of banks that committed at COP24 in Katowice to align their lending portfolios with global climate goals. Jakob obtained a PhD in Finance from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Mètiers in Paris, a Dual Masters degree in International Energy from Sciences Po Paris and Beijing University, and a B.A. Turkish and Economics (First Honours) from SOAS. At SOAS, Jakob has been teaching a postgraduate module in Green Finance and served as a co-convenor of the SOAS Summer School in Sustainable Finance and Climate Change.
Dr Ulrich Volz, the Founding Director of the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance, says: “We are very happy and excited that Jakob joins us as a Senior Fellow. Jakob has been doing tremendous work across research, policy and practice in the area of sustainable finance. We look forward to jointly advancing the knowledge and understanding of sustainable finance in both the Global North and South.”
Dr Jakob Thomä says: “As a SOAS alumnus, I am incredibly excited to return to SOAS in the capacity of a Senior Fellow and contribute to SOAS’ research and practice on driving the sustainable finance agenda, in particular in emerging and developing markets. Sustainable finance will play a key role in contributing to more sustainable economies. It is also set to be a critical agent for change in redefining the core pillars on which the financial sector is built. I look forward to contributing to the work of the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance in effecting that change.”
