Ben Allen will take over the leadership of IEEP for the upcoming months, working closely with the IEEP Board to continue IEEP’s mission whilst preparing the organisation for the future.

Hans Wolters, Chair of the Board said: “On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to have Ben step in and manage IEEP in the upcoming months. His knowledge of the institute’s mission and dedication towards IEEP are outstanding and I look forward to working with him towards strengthening IEEP’s impact even more.”

With expertise in land use and climate, circular-bioeconomy and sustainable finance, Dr. Allen has more than 15 years of experience working in both the public and private sectors. He has worked with IEEP for over 11 years, starting as a policy analyst working in the then agriculture programme, going on to co-lead that programme, before being appointed Research Director and leading the policy team in IEEP. Prior to joining IEEP, Ben worked for the UK’s largest land-owning charity (the National Trust) and the UK statutory nature conservation agency (Natural England), before focusing on EU policy. He has extensively worked on the development of sustainability criteria and benchmarks to support the integration of environment and climate objectives in economic activities, and he is the co-rapporteur for the technical working group of the European Platform on Sustainable Finance.

Ben Allen commented on his appointment by saying: “I thank the Board and the staff of IEEP for the trust given taking on this role as we move through the next few months. The fact that there has been so much show of support in these last few days is a testament to the thoughtfulness and commitment of IEEP’s team to making a real impact in the world, whilst taking care of their colleagues. I am looking forward to repaying that in the days and months to come.”