ARLINGTON, Va., U.S. – Conservation International today announced Nikolaus Schultze as the organization’s first vice president of European partnerships. He will lead Conservation International’s strategic efforts to bring the conservation, corporate and financial sectors of the region together to drive climate change solutions and protect nature for people. Schultze began serving in the role Monday, Feb. 1, 2021.
Based in Brussels, Schultze brings extensive knowledge and experience from his career in the global finance and environmental sectors that will help guide Conservation International’s mission in Europe and across the globe.
“We are pleased to welcome Nikolaus to Conservation International to grow and deepen our partnerships throughout Europe. Nikolaus has extensive experience fostering collaboration and engagement across all sectors. His talent and passion for the environment will go far in driving Conservation International’s mission to sustainably care for nature and humanity beyond Europe’s borders,” said Herbert Lust, managing director of Conservation International-Europe.
For more than 30 years, Schultze has worked at the intersection of conservation and finance. He most recently served as the global policy director at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), where he fostered cross-sector collaboration while managing partnerships with Business-for-Nature and developing the ICC’s United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Framework Convention on Climate Change engagement strategies. Throughout his tenure with the ICC, Schultze also led efforts to improve communication with global trade organizations and helped position the Chamber as a thought leader on issues of global importance.
Previously, Schultze served as COO of the World Maritime University (International Maritime Organisation) where he oversaw the establishment of the Ocean Institute, an ocean and maritime research and education facility focused on multi-disciplinary study to help illustrate the important role the ocean plays in humanity’s wellbeing. He also served as assistant-director general of the Global Green Growth Institute in Seoul where he coordinated and developed conservation funding strategies to support equitable and sustainable growth for developing countries and economies. Schultze previously held other positions where he consistently worked to support development, conservation, and climate action – including with the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
“I am thrilled to join Conservation International’s team of dedicated experts. Both the scale of the challenges faced by nature’s assets and their essential role in addressing some of the most pressing and lasting disruptions current and future generations will be facing cannot be addressed in isolation. Scaling up sustainable solutions require more innovative partnerships and coalitions, a view widely shared among European public and private actors,” said Schultze.
Schultze has served on several advisory boards and committees including with the Global Green Growth Forum (Copenhagen), Financing for Resilience (London), International Emissions Trading Association (Geneva) and the GroFin East Africa Fund (Nairobi). He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.
Schultze earned a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical science from University of Paris-Sud and a master’s degree in business administration from London Business school. He has also completed executive education courses in agribusiness and privatization, regulatory reform and governance at Harvard Business School and Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, respectively.
