Our Leadership

Dr Daniel Klier is South Pole’s Chief Executive Officer.

Daniel joined South Pole from sustainability data and technology platform ESG Book, where as CEO he oversaw the company's growth and established the business as global industry leader. He was previously Global Head of Sustainable Finance and Group Head of Strategy at HSBC, where he established the bank's net zero target and ambition to support the energy transition with 1 trillion dollars. Daniel started his career at McKinsey & Company, where he was a Partner, supporting companies to enhance their organisational performance and international growth.

A widely recognised sustainability expert, Daniel has served as the Chair of the Bank of England's Climate Working Group and Chair of the Institute of International Finance's Sustainable Finance Working Group. He serves on the Boards of the global sustainability reporting standard GRI and the international organisation Sustainable Energy for All.

As co-lead of South Pole’s Climate Advisory business, Anne-Franziska is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of our global advisory services. She leads our consultancy team to implement solutions which help companies to assess sustainability risks and impacts, manage sustainability throughout their business and across their supply chains and to develop resilient business strategies. Anne-Franziska is a consultant by heart. She brings 20 years of experience in corporate consulting with focus on carbon markets and climate strategy. She has built carbon price models, abatement curves, modelled risks and developed hundreds of GHG footprints. She also designed broader sustainability strategies, outlined mitigation roadmaps, set targets (also science based) and developed net zero implementation plans for global sustainability leaders. She is always hands on to provide value to our clients “on the ground”. At the same time she holds her clients accountable, pushes their ambitions, aims for new sustainability solutions to demonstrate leadership but also strives for making sustainability more mainstream. 

Prior to joining South Pole in 2015, Anne-Franziska has worked for KPMG in the US and various consulting firms in North America and Europe advising on corporate sustainability management, assurance, sustainability strategy design, sustainability program set up, policy and market analyses.

Martin, co-lead of South Pole’s Climate Advisory business, is a decarbonization and climate finance expert with a background in political science (PhD), geography (MSc) and economics. He has more than 15 years of experience in advising governments and companies on climate action with a focus on clean energy, land use and adaptation to a rapidly changing climate.

He contributed to innovative mechanisms under the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (Climate Investor One, Debt Fund for Prepaid Energy, Energy Savings Insurance), the Global Landscape of Climate Finance reports and the finance chapters of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and the UNEP Adaptation Gap report 2014.

Until 2009, he managed climate action projects in developing countries at myclimate. During 2009-2018, he has advised dozens of governments and multinational corporations on climate action, and particularly climate finance. He represented the Swiss government in the international climate negotiations.

In the last few years, he initiated several innovative climate action funds and platforms, including the Landscape Resilience Fund or the City Finance Lab.

Having spent the past 12 years working in the voluntary carbon market, compliance carbon markets, climate policy and thought leadership, Marco brings unrivalled knowledge to the role of Executive Director, Climate Certificates. With practical experience in carbon project development, implementation and trading, Marco is passionate about placing innovation and partnership at the heart of our certificates business. This ethos provides South Pole's global network of partners and clients with a vehicle to boldly speed towards a prosperous, low-carbon future.

His work has taken him to Canada, the United States, Belgium, Turkey, India, Switzerland and the UK, where he lives today.

Nadia Kaddouri was appointed Chief Financial Officer of South Pole in June 2024, reporting directly to the CEO. In this role, she will oversee our global financial operations, drive financial strategy, and ensure the sustainable growth of our company.

Nadia Kaddouri is a highly accomplished finance and strategy executive with over 18 years of experience in global companies across aviation services and automotive. Prior to joining Southpole she was the Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at Swissport International, where she focused on implementing Swissport's strategic roadmap, and built the company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda while advocating the ESG topic in the airport services sector. Previously, as EMEA Chief Financial Officer at Swissport International, she successfully guided the company through the COVID-19 crisis while implementing a finance transformation agenda. Her earlier roles include Senior Vice President – Group FP&A, Senior Group Business Controller, and Senior Integration Manager. In these positions, she oversaw the integration of the largest acquisition in the company's history, established robust financial functions, and achieved significant transformative results.

Prior to Swissport, Nadia managed the sales process of Servisair and was a Financial Controller of Eastern Europe at Azelis and Etam.

Sofia brings a wealth of experience in change management, employee engagement, and workforce planning within complex, multicultural environments. As Chief People Officer at South Pole, she leads a team of seasoned and dedicated HR professionals to enhance the company's organisational design, talent development, and retention strategies, with a goal of implementing best-in-class HR practices.

Since joining South Pole in 2023, Sofia has spearheaded key HR initiatives to align the company's people strategy with its broader business transformation, focusing on talent development and fostering a culture of performance and accountability.

Prior to joining South Pole, Sofia has held senior HR leadership roles at AkzoNobel and Nike, where she led HR strategy, capability-building programs, and diversity and inclusion initiatives at both functional and regional levels. She holds a masters degree in Intercultural Communication from Voronezh State University, a diploma in Organisational Leadership from the University of Oxford and is CIPD certified.

Antoine is a seasoned expert in climate finance and credit risk management, with extensive experience in the Global South. As Chief Risk Officer, Antoine is tasked with the pivotal role of establishing our risk function which consists of three main pillars: carbon projects risk, enterprise risk management and IT security. Antoine has over 20 years of experience in investments (debt & equity), business development, fund management and credit risk management. He has extensive knowledge of business practices in emerging economies, having conducted due diligence in more than 30 countries.

Prior to joining South Pole, Antoine was Head of Climate Finance and Member of Senior management at responsibility, a leading Impact asset manager.

Antoine is a Belgian national. He holds a degree in business engineering from UCL Mons, a European master of Microfinance from Solvay Brussels School and is a Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA).

Kushal serves as South Pole's Group General Counsel and is a member of the Group's executive team reporting to the CEO. Her responsibilities include overseeing multiple aspects for regulatory and legal compliance affairs including strategic activities such as fundraising, M&A, JVs, entity management, structured carbon deals, new products, investigations and litigation, regulatory and public affairs and certain aspects of critical communications and strategic transformation. She leads a department of legal and compliance professionals working across commercial legal matters, corporate matters, Article 6 and carbon regulatory issues, employment law, trading and portfolio management, data privacy and KYC.

As Corporate Secretary, Kushal serves as a liaison between the board of directors and company stakeholders, and works with the Chairperson and CEO to advise on corporate governance and board management matters.

Before joining South Pole, Kushal had 12 years + of private practice experience, working with elite law firms Milbank, Herbert Smith Freehills, and Norton Rose Fulbright in London. She graduated in 2010 from National Law School of India University, Bangalore (India's premier law school) and qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales in 2013.

Nadia leads South Pole's Global Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs function, reporting to the CEO.

With well over a decade of experience in carbon markets, reputation management, corporate sustainability, and media relations, Nadia works with South Pole's global Marcomms team to successfully launch and position new growth-driving initiatives for the business.

Nadia joined South Pole in 2015 and has been instrumental in developing group-level marcomms strategy, as well as spearheading efforts to accelerate growth in areas of strength. This includes the development and launch of South Pole's annual Net Zero Report, a critical analysis of the corporate landscape and progress towards net zero.

Before joining South Pole, Nadia led a variety of communications for the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development and the European Commission. She holds a masters degree in International Business Communication from the Aalto University School of Economics.

George leads the South Pole's commercial efforts in the Americas, focussing on providing sustainability solutions to clients across North and Latin America. Working with South Pole's global teams, George's role is to maximise climate impact for customers.

With 18 years of experience in corporate sustainability, George helps clients reduce carbon emissions, secure renewable energy solutions, and effectively use carbon credits in strategies aimed at achieving net zero emissions. His clientele spans various sectors, including consumer products, retail, apparel, ICT, chemicals, and industrial products.

Zoltan is a seasoned scale-up executive and works across South Pole to drive business performance by focusing on our transformation program. Prior to joining South Pole, Zoltan worked on implementing mergers, organisation transformations and streamlining processes and operations in Europe, Africa and Australia. He was VP of Strategy and Business Development at Gorilla, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company and spent several years in real estate investment management and venture capital prior to that. Besides work, Zoltan enjoys spending his free time with his family and friends, going out for frequent runs and is a passionate home chef and history geek.

An economist by training, Zoltan is motivated by the opportunity to strengthen market-based solutions to fight climate change at scale.

Dame Inga Beale is the former CEO of Lloyd's of London, where she served for five years before stepping down in 2018. She was the first female CEO in the global insurance and reinsurance market's 325-year history. Beale started her career at Prudential Assurance Company in London and is trained as an underwriter specialising in international treaty reinsurance. She worked for General Electric's insurance division for 14 years, where she held numerous management roles, including leadership roles in Kansas City, Paris and Munich. Beale then led the Swiss reinsurer Converium, where she spearheaded a company turnaround.

In 2008, she joined Zurich Insurance Group as a member of their Group Management Board. The following year she was named the group's Global Chief Underwriting Officer. From 2012-13, she was the Group CEO at the privately held Lloyd's insurer, Canopius.

Beale is a Chartered Insurer and studied economics and accounting at Newbury College, Berkshire, England and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the UK economy. Dame Inga has also played a critical role in advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives across the global insurance sector, including the Dive In Festival, the only sector-wide diversity and inclusion festival in the world. She also sits on the board of directors of NN Group N.V., Crawford and Company and Willis Towers Watson plc.

Cornelius Walter is an impact investor focusing on climate change, green infrastructure as well as industry innovatorsCornelius invests in and serves on the boards of early and later-stage companies with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals and sustainable business models. He is also an advisor at Lightrock, a leading global impact investing platform.

Prior to embarking on his journey as an impact investor, board member and advisor, Cornelius was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he advised financial institutions, energy companies, public-sector organisations, and clients in a broad range of other industries on growth strategies and large-scale transformations.

First based in Germany, he moved from Frankfurt to Budapest in the late 1990s to help build McKinsey's presence in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). He served as Managing Partner of McKinsey in Central Europe and, before that, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Budapest office. In these positions, he aspired to drive growth and profitability for CEE clients while role-modelling servant leadership among the local partner groups. Cornelius also helped lead the people initiatives across the EEMA (Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) region.

Anshari is a Director in the Strategy and Development Group (Policy & Analytics) at GenZero, and he is responsible for providing thought leadership on policy, regulations and standards in support of GenZero's investment activities.

Before GenZero, he was a climate change negotiator with the National Climate Change Secretariat under the Prime Minister's Office. He had represented the Singapore Government at various multilateral fora such as the UNFCCC, UNCBD, IPCC and ASEAN.

Anshari has coordinated whole-of-government initiatives such as Singapore's updated Nationally Determined Contribution and carbon markets strategy. He was also the lead carbon markets negotiator for Singapore, and has co-chaired expert level negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (international market and non-market based cooperation). He is currently serving on Verra's Board of Directors.

Kimberly is Managing Director and Head of Investments at GenZero. She oversees GenZero's investments, and leads the firm's portfolio construction and investment strategy to achieve its dual goals of positive climate impact and long-term sustainable financial returns.

Prior to her appointment at GenZero, Kimberly spent twelve years at Temasek International, focussing on investments in the transportation and logistics sector where she helped to build a multi-billion global logistics portfolio. With a particular focus on China and Southeast Asia, she led deal origination and execution resulting in notable investments including LF Logistics and ZTO Express, market leaders in various parts of the e-commerce logistics value chain. She also played a key role in landmark transactions involving core Singapore transportation assets which required complex technical execution and broad-based stakeholder management.

Kimberly also developed and led a new mobility strategy to build exposure to the electrification and digitalisation of transportation, the enabling supply chain and supporting infrastructure.

In terms of external appointments, Kimberly currently sits on the Board of South Pole.

She holds a MA in International and Development Economics from Yale University, and a BA and MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Lincoln College, Oxford University.

Nigel is a Partner at Lightrock where he is responsible for leading growth stage equity investments in Europe and North America. He believes that the creation of positive impact and commercial value are deeply intertwined and wants Lightrock to be the leading resource for companies who care passionately about both.

Before joining Lightrock, Nigel co-founded a company that scaled consumer and healthcare services. Prior to this, he focused on global growth equity investments at the IFC, investing in businesses looking to expand their footprint in emerging markets. Nigel started his career working on restructuring and M&A transactions at Moelis & Company in New York.

Nigel holds a BA in Political Science from Harvard University.

Christoph is one of the Co-Founders of South Pole and Board Director. As member of South Pole's Board, he drives many strategic topics of the company.

Christoph is Member of the Stewards Circle of the B For Good Leaders Network.

In his earlier career, Christoph worked for over 12 years at McKinsey, where he was responsible for sustainability and energy-related topics, such as the Review of EU Emissions Trading Scheme for the EU Commission.

Christoph holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Karlsruhe University, an MSc in Energy Management & Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and IFP School, Paris, and a Ph.D. in Economics in the field of Energy from Oldenburg University. His studies also included extensive internships in France and South Africa.

Patrick Buergi is a sustainability entrepreneur and expert with twenty years of experience in carbon markets, climate policy, corporate sustainability and impact investing. He is a co-founder of both the myclimate Foundation in 2002 and South Pole in 2006.

In mid 2022, Patrick relocated to Tokyo to lead the establishment of South Pole's presence in Japan. In addition, Patrick also acts as a Senior Innovation Advisor within South Pole working across a portfolio of innovation and R&D initiatives, including Net Zero strategies, carbon removals, regenerative agriculture, plastic stewardship and digital growth opportunities, for example.