WHO WE ARE
CO2eco has been set up by a multi-disciplinary leadership team who are passionate about accelerating the flow of funding to climate and nature solutions – and to do this urgently and at scale.
CO2eco has been set up by a multi-disciplinary leadership team who are passionate about accelerating the flow of funding to climate and nature solutions – and to do this urgently and at scale.
Charles Anderson
BSc MBA
Chair
As a former Director of the United Nations Finance Initiative and finance industry CEO in Asia, Australasia and Europe, Charles has played key leadership roles in promoting environmentally sensitive investments at global and corporate level in the UK and the Asia-Pacific region.
Active in environmental finance for over 20 years, his experience includes acquiring carbon credits from a native bush regeneration project in New Zealand, sourcing VCM credits for a FTSE 100 insurer, de-carbonising investment portfolios, and the development of a regenerative agroforestry farming model.
Charles has held roles as non-executive director and chair of businesses in the charity and for-profit sectors and is an effective leader of multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary teams. He farms 250 hectares in Devon, UK.
Clare Nickson Havens
BA MSt GAICD
Associate, Investor Relations
A highly ranked and experienced expert in bank analysis, with a passion for governance and board-level decision-making, Clare is a strategic advisor to start ups and established companies globally. Recent research as part of Clare’s masters degree in Leadership in Sustainability at the University of Cambridge examined the role of active mindset in the climate response of bank board directors.
Clare speaks at sustainability and governance events and is a Board adviser and investor in B2B agroforestry company Tierra Foods, a member of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative Working Group, a member of the Finance and Investment Taskforce NSW Circular and a member of the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education Working Group on Sustainability Mindset.
David Jones
MA MSt ACA
Chief Executive
David began his career as a chartered accountant in the City of London, followed by senior leadership roles in finance and operations in the private and public sectors. His sector experience includes spatial data, digital B2C, landscape engineering, commercial property, management consultancy and government regulation.
Always passionate about seeking environmental solutions, in 2021 David completed a masters degree in Leadership in Sustainability at CISL University of Cambridge. This inspired him to set up CO2eco with a mission to create new commercial solutions for long term investments in nature-based solutions. He has a wide ESG network and is a thought leader on the rapidly-emerging markets for carbon and nature.
He is a non-executive director of Farm Carbon Toolkit, a UK non-profit database to enable farmers to manage and report on whole-farm carbon.
Derek Brett Gallo
BA (Hons)
Advisor, Brazil
Derek has a background as an investment banker, impact angel investor and social entrepreneur, with experience in VC, PE raises, credit and project finance in sectors such as renewable energy (solar, wind and waste to energy), energy efficiency, water treatment, and more recently founded a branded superfoods food tech with an agroforestry farm in the Amazon.
He is passionate about personal development and connecting purpose with vocation, having organized Rick Jarow’s “Creating the Work You Love” workshops in Brazil from 2012-2015 and as a Tony Robbins Platinum Partner. Derek studied Econ & Latam Studies at Duke and left JP Morgan in New York to manage a Brazilian clean energy SME impact fund. He has remained in Brazil, returning to investment banking with middle market M&A, capital raising and turnarounds and as co-founder of several impact companies, including rural infrastructure pioneering drinking water to ~300 indigenous villages.
Neil Holiday
FRICS
Director & Land Use Advisor
Neil is an experienced Rural Land Management and Environmental Consultant with a career spanning 40 years. Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Senior Partner at Laws & Fiennes LLP until 2022. Successfully led and managed a wide range of private and institutional estates.
His wide land management expertise includes: structuring farm and environmental joint venture schemes covering commercial, legal and governance matters; forestry; project; asset management; sales & purchases; diversification; minerals; valuations; tax; renewables.
Marcela Flores
MA MSt PGCE
Board Advisor
Marcela is an award-winning entrepreneur and food industry professional with 15 years’ experience in senior global corporate commercial and sustainability roles and now CEO of Tierra Foods. She is highly experienced in regenerative food systems, including working with indigenous peoples and local communities on ecosystem conservation and restoration.
Marcela holds a masters degree from University of Cambridge including thesis on barriers and enablers for indigenous peoples and local communities to conserve and restore the Maya rainforest in Central America.
Prof Jim Lynch
OBE FRSC FRSB FRSA FRGS
Chief Scientist
Jim is Distinguished Professor of Life Sciences Emeritus at the University of Surrey in the Centre for Environment and Sustainability. He previously worked in government departments and agencies, universities, and private businesses. He has served on boards in both executive and non-executive roles, often as Chief Executive or Chair, and covered agricultural, forestry, environmental, earth observation and health sectors. He is widely published and cited, has extensive networks and his special skill is the development of sustainable policy.