Klaas de Vos

Experienced ocean sustainability professional

With more than a decade of experience in ocean sustainability and having worked for some of the world’s leading organisations on the topic, I provide a unique skill set and point of view at the intersection of conservation, finance and policy expertise. I am passionate about the ocean and have worked on a variety of issues including sustainable fisheries, marine conservation and tackling plastic waste. I have worked for the public and private sector in the developed and developing world, including in Vietnam, the UK, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Mozambique and Indonesia.

In recent years, my focus has been on the application of sustainable financing to the ocean, finding ways to unlock capital for the transition to a sustainable blue economy and pinpointing what sustainability really means for investment. I have co-authored The Ocean Finance Handbook for the Friends of Ocean Action as well as Rising Tide and Turning the Tide: How to finance a sustainable ocean recovery – A practical guide for financial institutions, released by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative in March 2021.

I am delighted to be a member of the 2021 cohort of Edinburgh Ocean Leaders.