Staff Profile

Iftekhar Ahmed is an international expert in sustainable finance with extensive research and training in climate and inclusive finance for global development. Currently, he is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Sustainable Finance and the module leader for a brand-new postgraduate module in “Green Finance and Sustainability” at Newcastle University Business School (NUBS). Following successful completion of a PhD in Finance (specialising in climate finance and risks analytics) at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand), Iftekhar started his academic and research career at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, UK), where he led a research project on "systemic resilience in investments" as well as supervised master’s dissertations. In this capacity, he led collaborations on systemic resilience topics with a global network of pension funds, insurers and asset managers, with over $9 trillion under management and advice. Prior to this, he also held academic and research positions at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand), Universiti Utara Malaysia (Sintok, Malaysia), Universiti Teknologi MARA (Shah Alam, Malaysia), and has held guest lectures on climate-related financial risks at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester (Manchester, UK).

He has conducted research and policy work for several organisations, including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). He is the Lead Author for the IPBES nexus assessment, focusing on finance for biodiversity-related elements of the nexus.

His research has been published in leading international journals, including Economics and Sociology, International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting and Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research. He has also contributed to a policy-relevant book chapter on "ASEAN energy policy" that has been published by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). Additionally, he has been serving as a regular referee for several peer-reviewed journals.

He is pioneering systemic resilience analytics to advance practical solutions to cope with complex environmental and social risks. His research broadly focuses on different aspects of environmental and social risk analytics for resilient finance to address complex global challenges. Current projects try to inform and influence how the work of institutional investors, asset managers, financial intermediaries and financial supervisors can achieve an equitable, net-zero and nature-positive future (for people, planet and prosperity), with a particular interest in emerging markets and developing economies.

External links:

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Iftekhar's research interests lie in sustainable finance and risk analytics, with applications in corporate finance, financial markets and institutions.

Research Streams:

I divide my research into three streams, each with its own direction and dynamic, and all overlapping in productive ways. This integrative, interdisciplinary research streams inform our teaching, from the undergraduate Banking and Finance degree (starting in 2025) to our Master’s courses and postgraduate research supervision. A commitment to public engagement in research is a feature of all three streams.

Ø Climate and Green Finance

• Sustainable finance and climate change
• Biodiversity and natural resource finance
• Net-zero and just transition finance
• Sustainable finance innovation and FinTech
• Climate readiness of social enterprises and SMEs

Ø Systemic Resilience and Development

• Extreme weather risks and economic resilience
• Alternative finance for resilience and development
• Inclusive green finance and the future of development

Ø Ethical Finance and Sustainability

• Topics in (Islamic) microfinance
• Islamic banking for climate actions
• Islamic social finance and philanthropy for SDGs

Module Teaching and Leadership:

• NBS8633: Green Finance and Sustainability, [Module Leader, 2023/24 - present]
• NBS8332: Financial Theory [2023/24 - present]
• ACC3000: Case Studies in Finance, Accounting and Business [2023/24 - present]
• NBS8998 with NBS8999: Academic Skills (A&F Database Lab) - [2023/24 - present]