Dr. Christoph Grobbel is the Chief Financial Officer, Chairman of the Board, and co-owner of South Pole, headquartered in Zurich. They are a global pioneer in sustainability solutions. In the last ten years, Christoph and his team have led the charge to develop over 500 emission reduction projects, drawing on a variety of standards and technologies all over the world.

“We wanted to bring together the best mix of minds needed to address the formidable challenge of climate change.” 

South Pole is a diverse company that provides sustainable financing solutions and services with offices around the world. They focus on carbon credits, renewable energy, sustainability advisory, and green finance. As a result of their continued success and expertise, they are now a major global advisor on climate-related policies, land use and water, and various types of climate risks for corporates and investors alike.

Over the years, the projects they have initiated and their positive impacts are undeniable. South Pole has helped reduce over 80 million tons of carbon emissions, screen the climate footprint of over 2 trillion US dollars of investments, organize over 10 billion US dollars in clean energy investment in emerging markets, protect over 55,000 square kilometers of land, enable the production of more than 100,000 Gigawatt hours of renewable energy, and create approximately 70,000 jobs in developing countries.

Underpinning all of this innovation and success is the belief in profit-for-purpose and being for-the-planet at the same time–some core principles around which South Pole was built. Their mission is to show how any organization or institution can do the same and the sustainability solutions they provide are tailor-made to the needs of their clients. For example, if you’re a pension fund that is a shareholder in certain companies, you are responsible for a certain amount of emissions. South Pole puts a number on that to highlight your exposure to climate risk, so that you can then work towards an environmentally sustainable investment strategy. At the same time, South Pole works with companies to help them report on the issues that mean most to their stakeholders and shareholders.

Whether you’re a large global conglomerate, a mid-sized corporation, or a small startup, running an environmentally sustainable business is an important issue from both an ethical and a risk perspective. The problems facing the planet are many but South Pole is rising to the challenge.

South Pole was awarded first place in four categories of Environmental Finance’s 18th Annual Market Rankings – the largest and most established industry rankings within the carbon, renewable energy, weather risk, and catastrophe risk markets. Congratulations!

South Pole’s work providing sustainable financing solutions and services contribute to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):