John Tobin-de Puente

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT JOHN TOBIN-DE PUENTE

Dr. Tobin is a corporate lawyer and a tropical ecologist with over two decades of finance industry experience. Following a career in finance, he shifted his attention to the growing area of corporate sustainability and became Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability at Credit Suisse. In this position, he pioneered a variety of initiatives and policies aimed at improving environmental and social risk management in the banking industry and addressing the growing demand for sustainable investment products and services. In 2016, he transitioned into a faculty position at Cornell University, where he now teaches corporate sustainability, environmental finance, and related topics to undergraduate and graduate students in business and public affairs. His research focuses on the use of financial tools to generate non-financial returns for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. In addition, he actively engages with industry partners and civil society to develop financial solutions to sustainability challenges. Dr. Tobin consults widely on matters of sustainability strategy, reporting, and disclosure, environmental and social risk management, stakeholder relations and reputational risk, and related areas for financial institutions, corporates, and civil society organizations. Finally, Dr. Tobin has extensive leadership and governance experience at the board level, particularly with entities in the areas of environment, science, and education. Among other appointments, he is chair of the board of directors of the International Union for Conservation of Nature-United States (IUCN-US). He holds a PhD from the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a BS in biology from the University of California at Los Angeles.