CLIMA CAPITAL PARTNERS
WE CREATE CLIMATE FINANCE SOLUTIONS
TO HELP CLIENTS THRIVE IN AN
EVER-CHANGING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
WHAT WE DO
We advise, and create economic value for the local economies of our partners through robust climate finance solutions, managing risks, and mitigating climate risks. We believe that value comes from thinking sustainably, leveraging local knowledge, and bringing new technologies to create a lasting impact on communities.
We understand climate change, technology, markets, finance, and collaboration. We utilize this knowledge to provide technical assistance and practical implementation for the following:
We structure investment funds, financing facilities, and project financing.
We assess and evaluate markets, and their risks, and develop tailored strategies for those markets.
We help provide access to public financing and provide sectoral-focused pragmatic solutions.
GLOBAL THEMES
We operate across various markets offering a diverse array of capabilities, all focused on improving how public and private sector players collaborate on climate issues, and investment opportunities.
INDUSTRIES
We work across of variety of industries and provide a wide range of expertise to complement specific sector needs. These are the pillars of our work, and where we provide the most value for our clients.
Renewable Energy
Solar, Wind, Biomass, Geothermal
Resource Efficiency
Green Buildings, Resource Efficiency, Retrofitting, Innovative Technologies
Waste Management
Agri-Waste, Food-Waste, E-Waste, Residential, Water Treatment
Supply Chain Risk Adaptation
Resource Maximization, Optimization, Insurance
Clean-Tech Applications
Technology Investment, Blended Solutions, Supply-Chain Optimization
Forestry
Sustainable Management, Investment, Resilience
GOVERNANCE
We leverage decades of investment experience in business and project development with a clear focus on climate. Our team is uniquely focused on collaboration and learning, creating opportunities and synergies to address the complex challenges our clients face in emerging markets.
Pierre Guislain Advisory Board Member
Pierre Guislain has over 35 years’ experience across multilateral development banks. He is the former Vice-President of the African Development Bank for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation — a remit that also spanned financial-sector and urban development, ICT, and trade facilitation (2016-2019). He led the Bank's "Industrialise Africa" priority, co-steered "Integrate Africa," and managed its private-sector investment window of USD 1.5–2 billion a year.
He was Senior Director at the World Bank (2014-2016) for the Transport and ICT Global Practice, overseeing a USD 5 billion annual lending portfolio alongside policy work on development corridors, green and inclusive mobility, and digital development. From 2006 to 2014, as Director of the Investment Climate Department — a joint IFC, MIGA and World Bank department — he advised governments on improving their business environment through reforms to taxation, trade, competition policy, and dispute settlement.
Pierre held various other roles across the World Bank Group from 1983 to 2005, including Manager of its global ICT division (2001–2005) and of the joint World Bank–European Commission Private Participation in Mediterranean Infrastructure programme (1997–2001). A published author on private sector development, FDI, ICT, and infrastructure reform.
Since 2020, Pierre has been an independent advisor on private sector, infrastructure, digital development, and financial inclusion, with a particular focus on Africa, and also advises several startups on strategy.
Pierre holds a Master's in Public Affairs (Economics and Public Policy) from Princeton, a graduate degree in Belgian and International Law, and a Bachelor's in Philosophy from the Université Catholique de Louvain.
Fady M. Zeidan Advisory Board Member
Fady M. Zeidan has over 30-year track record in international finance and development and most recently in global health and financing.
He is the former General Counsel and Head of Legal and Governance at the Global Fund (Geneva) and the former Deputy General Counsel at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private arm of the World Bank Group.
At the IFC, Fady has led a large team of lawyers that spanned Washington DC, Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America to support investment and advisory operations, in structuring and drafting legal agreements in project finance, corporate finance, and for setting up funds and asset management vehicles.
Fady has also led corporate initiatives to develop innovative approaches including in blended climate structuring and to mobilize private and public resources to increase the IFC’s capital and institutional impact in its client countries.
He previously worked at the International Monetary Fund and was also in private practice in Beirut, Paris and New York. He holds degrees from Harvard Law School, Université de Droit, d'Économie et des Sciences Sociales de Paris II, and Université Saint Joseph in Beirut.
Axel van Nederveen Advisory Board Member
Axel van Nederveen is the former Treasurer of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with more than 35 years’ experience in international capital markets, including 22 years leading EBRD’s Treasury. He Managed liquidity investments, borrowings and financial risk across a balance sheet with Treasury assets exceeding €35 billion, building Treasury into a major contributor to the Bank’s bottom line.
Axel is a globally recognised advocate of local currency finance, with long experience developing local capital markets and leading policy dialogue with authorities across emerging and frontier economies. He advises governments, central banks, development finance institutions and financial firms on financial market development, treasury and balance-sheet management.
Axel is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Frontclear — supporting local currency finance and cross-border derivative transactions in frontier markets. Axel was a member of the Board of Directors of TCX, the Currency Exchange Fund for nine years (2007-2016), which was set up to mitigate currency risks for borrowers and lenders in emerging markets and developing countries, and to develop capital markets and reduce structural distress caused by local currency, all of which are mechanisms essential for climate finance deployment in emerging markets and developing countries. He was also member of the Board of Directors of ISDA, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, for nine years, until 2026.
Axel has a Doctorandus (Drs) in Bedrijfskunde – a Master of Business Administration -- from the University of Groningen.
TEAM
Joumana Asso Managing Director
Joumana Asso brings over 25 years of investment and advisory experience in emerging markets, spanning project and corporate finance in the heavy industry and private equity impact investing in clean-technology start-ups at the International Finance Corporation (1999–2009), managing investment funds at the World Bank's Climate Investment Funds (2009–2015), and Clima Capital Partners, since 2018.
Before founding Clima Capital Partners, Joumana managed the private-sector portfolio of the Climate Investment Funds across mitigation, adaptation, and forestry, and managed the Clean Technology Fund's pipeline, cashflow, and relationships with MDBs and donors. She structured blended-finance vehicles tailored to the risk profile of each target industry and market segment. As Senior Advisor to the Green Climate Fund's Private Sector Facility (2016-2018), she developed two strategic proposals for the Board and designed innovative mechanisms to de-risk and mobilise private investment.
A climate finance expert, Joumana specialises in greening the financial sector and structuring climate finance lending programmes using blended finance and integrated risk-management tools. She has led development of national climate finance strategies across Africa and the Middle East and numerous NDC investment plans, anchoring each in the sectoral context of the country. Over the past three years, she has led the feasibility and structuring of some EUR 500 million in green lending facilities for financial institutions and developed climate and biodiversity finance strategies for major institutions in emerging markets.
She holds an MBA from HEC Montréal and a DESS (graduate degree) in Environmental Studies from the Université de Montréal.
Hiro Tsubota Managing Director
Hiro Tsubota has over 32 years of investment and advisory experience, including 24 years at the World Bank and eight years in investment banking in Europe and Japan. Expert in banking, structured finance, derivatives, and debt management, with a portfolio of projects, spread globally in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Prior to joining Clima Capital Partners, he managed a broad range of financial sector development and public finance management projects. He was a lead expert on capital market development, and managed and contributed to developing diagnostic frameworks, such as the G20 Local Currency Bond Market Diagnostic Framework (2013).
He also played a corporate role in numerous initiatives at the World Bank on financial innovations, including climate finance products such as green bonds. In the sustainable finance area, he played a key corporate role at the World Bank to establish a framework for finance for development, focusing on how debt finance can be deployed in a sustainable manner as well as how scarce public sector resources could be best deployed and help leverage private-sector investments. He also led the preparation of internal background papers to determine the Bank’s position on climate finance instruments, such as green bonds, sustainability bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, and various forms of guarantees.
At the country level, he advised governments on the deployment of these instruments.
Since joining Clima Capital Partners earlier at the beginning of this year, he also provided technical leadership and quality assurance in completing the FSD Africa project on Green Bonds in the SADC Region, NDC-related work, and led multiple engagements in green banking in middle-income countries.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Hiro was an investment banker advising governments, including subnational governments in Germany and Japan on bond issuance and financial risk management. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, graduated in economics from Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, and studied economics at the University of Economics, Vienna, Austria.
Dave Gibson Lead Expert, Sustainability, ESG and Climate Risks
David Gibson has over 30 years experience in developing countries and emerging markets, with an extensive background in sustainability strategies and practical management solutions across a variety of sectors, including forestry, biomaterials, and infrastructure, with a particular focus on climate-related investments. His career highlights deep experience in applying environment and social management systems (ESMS) and leveraging sustainability (ESG) standards. At the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, he played a pivotal role in managing investments linked to forestry and climate change, helping to co-author the IFC's Performance Standard 6 on Biodiversity Conservation. He also developed the GeoDesk Service platform and GEOIFC App, which incorporates geospatial ESG risk analytics into daily appraisal and supervision cycles. Dave also held extended senior positions as USAID's Senior Regional Natural Resources Officer in both Africa and Latin America and he directed Chemonics International's Global Environmental Practice. His proficiency extends to significant familiarity with climate regulations, voluntary climate disclosure standards, and the EU taxonomy, providing a comprehensive suite of skills tailored to addressing climate risks in banking, infrastructure, and land management.
Dave has an MS in Forest Resource Planning & Management from Yale School of the Environemnt and BS in Wildlife & Fisheries Biology, Habitat Management, Forest Planning, and Geospatial Analytics from Colorado State University. Dave speaks French, English and Spanish.
Benoit Martimort Senior Advisor
Benoit has over 25 years of experience working on science-policy interfaces for research organizations and think tanks in Canada and France to promote the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements.
He accompanies public and private institutions through coaching, training, facilitation, and consulting on strategic changes and positioning to increase their impact and improve the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their visions, actions, and operations. Since 2019, Benoit is the international affairs advisor for the United Nations Science-Policy-Business Forum for the Environment.
Benoit has led the communication, outreach, and the development policy function at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris. He also created and directed the International Affairs Department of the Institute for Development Research (IDR) in Marseille, where he positioned French and African scientific and research teams in major international environmental negotiations (climate change, desertification, biodiversity, human settlement) and multilateral funds, including climate funds.
Prior to that, Benoit managed numerous projects at the Observatoire de l’écopolitique (Canada), where he supported Francophone countries in the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements.
He taught international governance of sustainable development at Sciences Po (Paris), Agroparitech, and IAMM, and in Canada at the University of UQAM. He was an advisor to Laurence Tubiana, director of the Sustainable Development Chair at Sciences Po, between 2010 and 2017.
Benoit holds a Master in Engineering Science (Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, France), a graduate degree in Environment and Prevention (University of Montreal, Canada), a master’s degree in Environmental Science (UQAM, Canada) and had completed the academic part of political science Ph.D. program at UQAM. He is also a certified coach and facilitator in collective intelligence. He is trained in NLP and non-violent communication. He is fluent in English and French.
Andrea Bacher Senior Climate Investment Funds and Strategy Expert
Trained in economics, sustainability management, law, and communication, Andrea has over 15 years of experience in international projects development and management, corporate strategy, public policy, stakeholder engagement, partnerships, and capacity building with a focus on climate change, energy, corporate sustainability management, sustainable green and blue economy finance, circular economy, and gender.
She has worked with international organizations and the private sector, including the International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations, the World Bank, the German Development Agency (GIZ), and private companies and sector associations worldwide.
Andrea also led and coordinated the global private sector for multiple major UN conferences, such as the UN Climate Change Conference in 2015 (COP21) and the UN Summits on Sustainable Development (2012, 2015). Andrea has served as the global focal point for the private sector to the United Nations Climate Negotiations (UNFCCC, 7 years), as private sector observer to the Green Climate Fund (5 year) and the Climate Investment Funds (5 years),and was a member of the steering committee of UNEP’s International Resource Panel (6 years).
She holds a LLM in International Business Law from the Queen Mary University London, a LLM in French and European Law from the Sorbonne University Paris, a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development Management from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris), and a diploma in Business Economics and Journalism from the University of Applied Sciences of Central Switzerland. Andrea is fluent in French, German and English.
Qiu Wong Climate Strategy and Reporting Specialist
Qiu Wong is a seasoned corporate sustainability practitioner with experience across strategy, governance, risk management, data analysis and reporting.
Before joining CLIMA, she played a key role at Malaysia’s national oil and gas company, PETRONAS where she supported development of its net zero decarbonization strategy and authored its first report aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Leveraging her mechanical engineering background, she effectively bridged operational realities with strategic planning, ensuring company-wide policies were both practical and aligned with evolving international regulations and voluntary frameworks.
Qiu has also represented Malaysia as a youth delegate at the Bonn Climate Change Conference, where she organized bilateral meetings with government ministries and civil society organizations, advocating for sustained and meaningful youth participation in climate negotiations. She continues to follow climate finance policy developments and conducts sharing sessions as coordinator of the Means of Implementation and Support Working Group within the Malaysian Youth Delegation.
Qiu holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University and ranked in the top 10% of her MSc Climate Change, Management and Finance cohort at Imperial College London. She speaks fluent English, Malay, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Crystal Wong Jee Yong Capital Market and Policy Expert
Crystal Wong is an experienced sustainability and capital markets practitioner with a background in regulation, legal practice, and development. She was called to the Bar of England and Wales and was admitted to the Malaysian Bar as an Advocate and Solicitor.
Previously, she served as a capital markets regulator, specializing in climate finance and investment management development, particularly within Malaysia and the broader ASEAN region. Her expertise extends to the formulation of policy papers, guidelines, and regulations aimed at enhancing the depth and breadth of the capital markets.
With a deep understanding of economic and government policies, she has actively participated in national-level climate action initiatives and policy design endeavors. She has worked closely with ministries, government agencies, regulators, financial institutions, and various stakeholders to ensure effective policy development and implementation nationally and regionally. She has experience in developing disclosure and reporting requirements, formulating policy documents for bond market development, and integrating sustainability considerations into the investment and due diligence processes of private markets.
Crystal holds an LL.B from the University of Leeds and completed her Bar Professional Training Course at City, University of London. Fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese, Bahasa Malay, and Cantonese dialects, Crystal brings a diverse skill set to her professional pursuits.
ELISE KOUTOUA Climate Finance Analyst
Elise Koutoua is a sustainability and CSR practitioner with expertise in environmental engineering, law, and management. Her French-Ivorian background gives her a grounded understanding of environmental challenges in both developed and emerging contexts.
Before joining CLIMA, she served as a technical project officer at Écologic France, where she led waste characterization campaigns, developed operational data collection and analysis tools for ADEME, and coordinated stakeholders across environmental impact projects. She also conducted behavioral science projects aimed at improving citizens' sorting, reuse, and recycling practices. In Côte d'Ivoire, she contributed to the revision of national climate reports (BURs and NCs) at the Ministry of Environment, deepening her understanding of climate policy in African contexts.
Elise holds a Master's degree in Management, Engineering, and Environmental Law with a CSR specialization from ISE Versailles. She is AFNOR-certified in CSRD and ISO 26000. She speaks fluent French and proficient English.