Lombard Odier Appoints Marc Palahí as Chief Nature Officer
Global wealth and asset manager Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) announced the appointment of forests, circular bioeconomy and global change expert Dr. Marc Palahi to the newly created role of Chief Nature Officer, in a move described by the firm as part of its drive to bolster its sustainability expertise.
The new hire follows the launch earlier this month of holistiQ Investment Partners, a new sustainable investing 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 role, Palahi will be responsible for further developing holistiQ’s nature strategy, enhancing the platform’s nature-focused investment offering, and integrating nature across its research activities. Palahi will also support the creation of new tools and investment solutions focused on the phase-out of carbon-intensive economic activity in favor of nature-based models.
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.”
Palahi joins LOIM after serving as CEO of European Forest Institute, a pan-European organization focused on conducting research and providing policy support on issues related to forests. He holds a PhD in forestry and economics and has authored and contributed to over 40 scientific publications.
Palahi said:
“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.”