Theodor Cojoianu

Dr Theodor Cojoianu is an Associate Professor in Sustainable Finance at the University of Edinburgh, the Director of Research for the Centre for Business, Climate Change and Sustainability (BCaSS) ∓ Sustainable Futures Lead at the Edinburgh Future Institute. Theodor's work at the intersection between sustainability, geography, finance and datascience has led him to be invited as a Member of the European Commission's Platform on Sustainable Finance, where he advises the Commission on EU sustainable finance policy and on HM Treasury's Green Technical Advisory Group. As part of his outstanding contribution to the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, he has been appointed as a Secretary of the Mining and Extractives group, which aims to define the sustainability criteria on substantial contribution and do-no-significant-harm for the sector, which will be at the basis of a new EU Commission delegated act. He has also been appointed as the lead for the Nature Protection Investment Benchmark proposal of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, which will set a minimum benchmark for financial instruments which seek to reduce their biodiversity and nature impacts over time. For more details please visit Theodor Cojoianu's website.

Theodor received his D.Phil in Geography and the Environment from the University of Oxford and his MSc in Carbon Finance (Distinction) and MEng in Electrical Engineering and Management from the University of Edinburgh. Theodor presented professionally relevant insights to: Allianz Global Investors, Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BNP Paribas, Brunel Pension Partnership, Dutch FMO, Environmental Agency Pension Fund, EU Commission, EIB, Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt), Investment Innovation Benchmark, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, International Finance Corporation / World Bank, National Australia Bank, other global financial institutions as well as advising on sustainable finance policy design policymakers from: Brazil, China, Mongolia, Singapore, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania.

Theodor has interdisciplinary work has been published in geography, accounting, finance and environmental economics journals such as: Accounting Forum, Business Strategy and the Environment, Environmental and Resource Economics, Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of Financial Services Research, Regional Studies, Small Business Economics and Research Policy. It has also been communicated for practice in high profile reports for international financial institutions looking to invest in the low carbon transition, and appeared in news outlets such as Bloomberg, Financial Times and Thomson Reuters.

Theodor has won more than EUR 3.5 million in research funding for various impactful research, one of which generated the academic spin-off Greenwatch.ai, an initiative he co-founded, together with academics from University College Dublin and Pat Cox, the former President of the EU Parliament. Previously, he held appointments in the sustainable finance space in both academic and finance industry organisations. He worked in academia within Queen’s University Belfast as Assistant Professor, University College Dublin as a Marie Currie Caroline Fellow, as well as the Centre for Responsible Banking and Finance at the University of St Andrews, the ICMA Centre at the University of Reading and the University of Edinburgh Business School. He was previously an analyst with MSCI ESG Research in London and affiliated with Sociovestix Labs and Sustainable Investment Partners.

Theodor Cojoianu discusses his research on the contribution of finance to sustainable development and its positive impact.