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Kees Koedijk joined Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� last year as professor Sustainable Finance. He studies the effects of climate change on the investments in shares and bonds of large investors such as pension funds and insurance companies. He investigates how they can protect themselves against these consequences and how they can have a direct impact on the economy by reducing CO2 emissions. He also looks at the effect of green washing, pretending to be greener or more socially responsible than a company or organisation actually is. “Sustainability is very much in fashion but not everything that calls itself sustainable is sustainable”.

In his first year at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, Koedijk has invested in setting up a new master's Sustainable Finance and Investments, that teaches students not only the standard Finance instruments, but also how to take a broader view by including other considerations. Kees Koedijk: “Sustainable Finance is not only about risk and return, but also has an emphasis on impact.  What are the effects of investments on the environment and what are the social aspects?” This master makes Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� the second university in the Netherlands – after Maastricht - to offer such a Master's programme.

Koedijk gained experience at Maastricht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, Erasmus ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� Rotterdam and Tilburg ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. It has become Koedijk’s M.O to stay at each university for 10 years: "It is good to reinvent yourself every 10 years. Utrecht is appealing because it is the pre-eminent university for multi-disciplinarity. There are many good sustainability researchers. I think a lot of good education in sustainability can be set up in Utrecht," says the professor.