Fernando J. DÍAZ LÓPEZ serves as a lead author for the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR7 (WG III, Chapter 10 Industry)
Fernando is the executive director of the Climate and Earth Centre of HEC Paris (Sustainability and Organizations Institute – S&O). He holds honorary appointments at Stellenbosch University (associate professor extra-ordinary), University of Ferrara and Universidad de Alcala (research fellow).
With a rich background including past roles at EIT Climate-KIC (European Institute of Innovation and Technology), Technopolis Group, TNO and Nalco Chemical, he is a thought leader in eco-innovation and circularity for industrial decarbonisation, and transformative climate resilience in business.
Fernando is one of the most recognised international scholars at the interphase between science and policy for transformative climate resilience, decarbonisation, circularity and eco-innovation. He is a lead author for the IPCC AR7 contributing to the identification of climate mitigation options for the decarbonisation of emission-intensive industries. His research also addresses the deployment of circularity, resource efficiency measures, and green innovations, including process integrated, CCU /CCS/ DAC solutions, their business models, and how green technology & infrastructure is transferred and deployed. More recently, his research focuses on the development of original knowledge about climate resilience in industry and territories.
With an h-index of 13 and over 1400 citations (google scholar), Fernando’s scientific, policy and practice-oriented publications include over 150 documents (articles, books, chapters, guidelines, research reports, conference papers, policy briefs, contributions to official documents).
Fernando is one of the top 30 global authors in goggle scholar for the themes of eco-innovation, decarbonisation and circularity. He also features in the top 50 global scholars on climate resilience of the same platform.
His work has been published in top environmental journals, including the Journal of Cleaner Production (Q1 env. sciences, H-Index of 309) and Ecological Economics (Q1 economics, H-Index of 248).
Over the years, Fernando has constituted a unique portfolio of research of more than 65 grants and advisory contracts with a value of over 90 million Euros. His work has been funded by: the European Commission (Horizon Europe, H2020, FP7, FP6, EuropeAid), UN Environment, Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank.
Fernando has also been an independent scientific advisor to companies in the private sector, always remaining impartial, unbiased and with a clear independence from their interest. His experience has served companies such as the KUO Group, Orbia, Savid Dominicana, P&G, and Rockwool Benelux with pressing climate and sustainability questions. He also has hands-on experience in the design and implementation of cleantech-transfer projects. He was the main advisor for the establishement of the UN Global Programme on Eco-innovation and Resource efficiency – implemented in 12 countries worldwide and benefiting hundreds of SMEs.
In addition to being associated editor at Elsevier’s Cleaner Waste Systems Journal, he is a reviewer of different leading scietific outlets (Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Nature Energy, among others).
Fernando has also been an evaluator for the European Commission Horizon Europe programme, the Dutch Research Funding Organisation NWO, the National Science Foundation of South Africa, the Mexican Science for Science and Technology, among others.
More recently, he’s also been involved as a mentor and jury of climatech entreprenurship programmes. He’s a mentor in the Creative Description Lab climatech ventures programme, co-hosted by HEC Paris Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute.
Circular Economy: Transition for Future Sustainability (Learning facilitator)
Strategizing Sustainable Business Transformations (Lecturer Module Low Carbon Innovation)
How to Drive the Transition to the Circular Economy through Science, Technology, and Innovation Policies (course design and course director)
Throughout his career, Fernando has strived to create an impact on organisations and society at large. His appointment to the IPCC as lead author reflects his commitment to international climate science and diplomacy – making him one of the most renowned international experts in industrial decarbonisation.
At the international level, he was instrumental to the success of the United Nations’ Global Eco-innovation Project, a key advisor to the the Inter-American Development Bank Green Innovation and Circular Economy knowledge programme and the RELAI Network of Innovation Agencies in their efforts to incorporate circular economy and climate action among decision makers in Latin America. He also co-led the study for the European Commission’s impact assessment of the Revision of the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation.
Before joining HEC Paris, he was responsible for the research agenda of EIT Climate KIC’s – the largest European climate initiative. A key milestone was the acquisition of over 130 million Euros in grants implementing the EU missions of climate adaptation, soils, and carbon neutral cities under Horizon Europe. Fernando’s work at CKIC also included leading its science-policy lab, the Transitions Hub and the overall co-ordination of the Pathways2Resilience project (30 million Euros).
Fernando has been recently serving as the co-lead of the Business Schools for Climate Leadership (BS4CL) alliance, a partnership between HEC Paris, INSEAD, Oxford Said, Cambridge Judge, IMD, IE, London Business School, and Bocconi. In this role, he is contributing to a major paradigm shift in business management education towards a much more ambitious role in climate action thought leadership and education.
