Ivo leads UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit (CFU), created in 2019. CFU brings together various initiatives and finance facilities that aim to unlock public and especially private capital towards sustainable land use with positive impacts for the climate, nature and people. Under his supervision, the Climate Finance Unit has built a portfolio of innovative initiatives, such as the AGRI3 Fund, set up by Rabobank, UNEP, Mirova Natural Capital, IDH and FMO as part of a USD 1 billion commitment in loans that focus on financing deforestation-free commodity production.

Other examples include a new Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF) that stimulates private equity investment in forest and landscape restoration, the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (which issued an inaugural USD 95m ‘landscape bond’ in 2018), or the support for novel ventures such as &Green Fund. In addition, Ivo sits on the Steering Committee of a number of projects such as the GEF Good Growth Partnership, GEF The Restoration Initiative and the Natural Capital Finance Alliance. Over the past decade, Ivo initiated and led a number of projects that develop business cases for the private and finance sector to tackle environmental challenges.

He co-founded and directed the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA). Signed by more than 40 CEOs, this initiative aims to make the link between ecosystem degradation and the financial impact this can have on banks, investors and the broader financial system. The Dutch Central Bank recently found that 36% of Dutch financial assets are at risk of ecosystem decline using NCFA’s ENCORE data. The initiative has developed various other innovative tools for the finance industry to address deforestation risks related to soft commodities, integrating water risk in the valuation of corporate bonds and stocks, as well as environmental risk integration in sovereign credit analysis (ERISC).

Ivo also co-initiated the REDD+ work at UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in 2011 to scale up private sector engagement and over the past years has led the private sector & finance work for the UN-REDD Programme, including building the economic case for governments in various countries to preserve natural capital by reducing deforestation. Ivo Mulder has over fifteen years of professional experience working for UNEP, private consulting firms and with non-governmental organisations. He has published more than fifty reports, blogs and articles and sits on the Steering Group of a number of initiatives. Ivo is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and a member of the Dutch Association of Sustainable Investors (VBDO). During his free time, he pursues a variety of outdoor sports such as triathlon, diving, alpine skiing and mountain hiking. Educational background Ivo holds a Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, with a focus on environmental economics.