University of Oxford and Lombard Odier join forces for first professorship of sustainable finance
The multi-year partnership will create the first endowed professorship of sustainable finance at any major global research university.
The multi-year partnership will create the first endowed professorship of sustainable finance at any major global research university.
Lombard Odier and the University of Oxford have launched a new multi-year partnership to foster research and teaching on sustainable finance and investment, with a particular focus on climate change, circular economy and nature.
The collaboration between Oxford University and Lombard Odier will provide a unique platform for knowledge exchange between scholarship and financial services and support sustainable finance.
It will support sustainable finance in becoming a major field of academic research globally, and harness the vast potential of the financial sector to drive environmental, social and economic
Dr Ben Caldecott, Chair of the Sustainable Investment Forum Europe and a distinguished expert in sustainable finance and investment who is the founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme and the COP26 Strategy Advisor for Finance at the UK Cabinet Office, has been appointed the first holder of the post and will become the Lombard Odier Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow of Sustainable Finance at the University of Oxford.
The post will be based in the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment within Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment and connected to Oriel College, Oxford.
Dr Ben Caldecott said: "Sustainable finance is a structural change in both the demand and provision of financial products and services. It is also mission critical for tackling the massive environmental and social challenges facing humanity.”
“But for sustainable finance to be itself sustainable, it needs greater academic rigour, as well as pedagogy to scale the adoption of best practice. This is a huge agenda for both practitioners and researchers, and as the Lombard Odier endowment implies, these questions and issues will endure in some form for many generations. There are also many very immediate questions, such as how to ensure investor portfolios are aligned with climate outcomes, that we’ll seek to answer much more quickly over the coming months and years.”
Hubert Keller, Managing Partner at Lombard Odier, said: “Sustainability has always been at the heart of Lombard Odier’s approach to its business and investment philosophy and we are consistently investing in these capabilities. Through their unique and leading capabilities in sustainable finance, we are excited to be working with the University of Oxford with the objective to increase the impact of sustainable investments.”
Dr Ben Caldecott is the Chair for the Sustainable Investment Forum Europe, a 4-Part Digital Event Series taking place during September 2020. Hear from him and many other leading experts in sustainable finance by securing your place for free today. Part 1 took place on Tuesday 8 Septemeber, you can watch on demand here.