As Climateworks takes on a systems change approach, new appointments are bringing subject matter expertise.

Liam Walsh has been appointed to the role of System Lead for Food, Land and Oceans.

With over a decade of expertise in agriculture, nature conservation and business, Liam has worked for several high profile not-for-profits and research institutes, including: the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, Conservation International, WWF and the UN Refugee Agency. His experience spans diverse geographies – from Vietnam to Kenya, Liberia, the UK and of course, Australia. 

In the UK as Head of Sustainable Consumption, Liam led WWF in a groundbreaking partnership with Tesco (a major UK supermarket retailer), to halve the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket. While in Liberia, Liam worked with government, industrial palm oil plantations and consumer goods companies to secure the country’s commitment to the Marrakesh Declaration for the Sustainable Development of the Oil Palm Sector in Africa. It is this diversity and depth of experience that will make him invaluable in his new role. As Liam himself says, ‘I am really excited about increasing the scope of Climateworks’ work on nature as a climate solution – as some of the most tried and tested solutions to achieve net zero can be found in nature.’

John Vong has been appointed to the newly created role of Systems Lead for Sustainable Finance.

Sustainable finance is critical to a successful system-wide transformation to a net zero economy: It’s a challenge that John Vong takes seriously. He brings a new layer of expertise to Climateworks. John is experienced in a wide variety of approaches to sustainable finance, designed to enable financial institutions and their clients as they race to net zero emissions. By working collaboratively with financial regulators and institutions, John anticipates that Climateworks will support the creation of a credible and transparent financial system to efficiently mobilise capital towards net zero. While he acknowledges the role is a serious one, John is naturally upbeat, relishing ‘the adventure and opportunity to collaborate, cooperate, co-create and educate.’

Having managed projects for leading organisations including the World Bank Group, Asian Development Bank and UN Agencies, John is well-versed in building capacity across climate resilience, education, public sector reforms and finance sector development. His work has been documented in several leading academic publications.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with new arrivals at Climateworks.