Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has appointed Mr. Asger Strange Olesen to a newly-created role of Chief Climate and Ecosystems Officer.

An accredited global sustainability veteran, Mr. Asger Strange Olesen has been working on climate change and the bioeconomy since joining the European Commission in 2011. Mr. Olesen was most recently Technical Director, Climate Change, Ecosystems and Livelihoods services at global consultancy group, COWI.

Olesen has postgraduate studies and certificates in Project Management, Corporate Finance and Business Administration. He’s a graduate in geography with technical expertise in tropical forest ecosystems, geochemistry, crop systems, and carbon dynamics in land-based production systems. He serves as lead reviewer for the UNFCCC Roster of Experts and was recently accepted as technical expert for REDD plus Technical Assessments.

Jeremy Harrison, Chief Markets Officer, commented that “This role is critical for FSC as we look to consolidate our work on climate and ecosystem services and build and execute a compelling strategy for market development in these key areas. Asger brings a breadth and depth of knowledge on these topics and an understanding of diverse stakeholder perspectives; I am looking forward to working with Asger to build consensus around new ideas and concepts to drive FSC’s climate and ecosystem services programmes.”

Asger Olesen added, “When I first saw the newly adopted FSC strategy, and recognised myself in the vision and mission statements, there was little doubt I wanted to join FSC. I believe, forest certification and ecosystem markets can reinforce each other and create synergies for land owners, forest users, governments and society as a whole. I am honoured to be joining FSC in this exciting new role, and look forward to work with all stakeholders, ecosystem market actors, network partners and all of FSC to make the climate and ecosystem services programme a success.”