Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) has appointed Dr. Marc Palahi to the newly created role of chief nature officer.
The hire is part of the fund manager’s drive to bolster its sustainability expertise and capabilities through the addition of industry-leading talent.
The firm recently launched holistiQ Investment Partners, a dedicated sustainable investment platform within LOIM, aimed at capturing sustainable transition investment opportunities, with a focus on the transformation of key economic systems such as energy, land and oceans, and materials.
In his new Londn based role, Palahi is responsible for further developing the nature strategy within holistiQ’s sustainable investment platform.
In addition, he will integrate nature centrally across holistiQ’s sustainability research activities, which provide intelligence and connectivity across all LOIM’s core businesses.
He will also help create new tools and investment solutions that support the phase-out of carbon-intensive economic activity in favour of nature-based models.
The company said the aim is to ultimately drive investment that contributes towards nature restoration, while further positioning holistiQ as a global leader in the distribution of nature-positive strategies.
Palahi is an internationally recognised expert on forests, circular bioeconomy and global change with over two decades of experience in leading scientific initiatives.
He joins from the European Forest Institute, where he worked since 2007 and was the diirector since 2015. He has a PhD in forestry and economics and has authored and contributed to over 40 scientific publications over the course of his career.
Jean-Pascal Porcherot, Co-Head of LOIM and Managing Partner of Lombard Odier, said, “The world continues to face unprecedented challenges in building a more sustainable economic future, encompassing climate change, biodiversity loss, socio-economic inequalities as well as resource security and scarcity.
The role nature has to play in addressing these issues is increasingly clear, and we must ensure that a just transition includes positive nature outcomes.
Dr. Marc Palahi, Chief Nature Officer at holistiQ added, “For the last twenty years I have been working to better understand the large societal challenges we are facing as well as the potential solutions that Nature, science and technology can offer to address them.
It is paramount that in the next decade we need to facilitate an unprecedented economic transformation if we want to place our world on a sustainable path. The good news is that we have the knowledge to do it but need to deploy capital at the right scale in the right solutions.”
In addition to his new role within holistiQ, Palahi will continue to lead the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, established by His Majesty The King (formerly the Prince of Wales), on a secondment basis.
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