Finance for Biodiversity welcomes Julen González Redín as new member of the team

We are happy to welcome a new team member to the secretariat of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. In this short interview, Julen González Redín, who is joining the team as Technical Director and Working Group Coordinator, shares information about himself.

Contact: julen.gonzalez@financeforbiodiversity.org

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Where are you living?

I currently live in my hometown, San Sebastian, a coastal city in the Basque Country (Spain). It is from here that I will be working for Finance for Biodiversity Foundation.

What is your study background?

Five years ago, in 2018, I obtained my PhD in Sustainability and Natural Capital from the University of Dundee (Scotland, UK) and the James Hutton Institute (Scotland, UK), also in collaboration with the CSIRO (Australia). Previously, in 2014, I had obtained a MSc in Sustainable Development from the University of St Andrews (Scotland, UK), preceded by a BSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of the Basque Country (Spain) in 2011.

My education has always been linked to nature, where I have moved from a mainly environmental approach (BSc) to a more interdisciplinary one (MSc, PhD), with the aim of understanding the complexities and relationships between the economy, society and environment.

Where were you working before you came here?

For the last 3 years I have been working in the consultancy Ecoacsa Reserva de Biodiversidad as Technical and Project Director, a natural capital consultancy from Madrid (Spain). Its objective is to promote and foster the integration of natural capital in companies and businesses from multiple sectors.

At Ecoacsa I have worked in different areas within the natural capital and biodiversity field, including the construction of corporate strategies and action plans, development and application of methodologies and tools for measuring biodiversity impacts and dependencies, quantification of risks and opportunities under existing frameworks (e.g., TNFD), and accounting and valuing natural capital in marine and terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., SEEA EA framework), among others.

One of the most interesting aspects was the actual daily work with companies and helping them to become more aware of their relationship with nature —both positive and negative—, thus contributing to integrate biodiversity and natural capital into their decision-making processes, policies and operations.

What makes you excited about working at the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation?

We are at a pivotal moment globally in terms of our relationship with nature, with a pressing need to reverse biodiversity loss and with an increasing number of frameworks, initiatives and standards, as well as more and more actors joining the movement.

In this scenario, I am very motivated and excited to join an organisation of the prestige of Finance for Biodiversity Foundation and contribute to the growing international agenda. The organisation works internationally and with a clear focus on the financial sector, where the goal is to help financial entities tackle the biodiversity challenge through working groups and the publication of different useful materials.

Another motivation is the possibility to work closely with the main entities and organisations in this field at the global level, such as SBTN, TNFD, WWF or UNEP FI, to name but few. This allows all of us to take steps forward together in order to transform the financial and sector into one that recognises and fully accounts for its relationship with nature.

Overall, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation is performing an exceptional collaborative work and I look forward to contributing to its growth and passion for helping the financial sector move towards a sustainable relationship and management of nature.

Where does your interest in biodiversity come from?

I have always had a curiosity for nature and a fascination for its beauty; I remember going to the mountains with my family when I was very young and enjoying its landscapes. In fact, I come from a region in Spain, the Basque Country, where the relationship with nature (mountains, coast, rivers) is very much integrated in our culture and way of being. From there, I have always felt the need to understand why our society is dissociated or detached from our natural environment and how we can change this situation, which has inspired and motivated me throughout my career and will continue to do so from now on.