Hans Peter Lankes

Hans Peter Lankes serves as a Visiting Professor at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), since February 2021. He concurrently holds a Senior Fellowship at the LSE/Oxford State Fragility Initiative and maintains active roles with development finance institutions and impact funds. Previously, he was Vice President for Economics and Private Sector Development at the International Finance Corporation (IFC)/World Bank Group, overseeing economics, development impact, blended finance, climate, gender, and thought leadership functions.

His academic credentials include a PhD from Harvard University, complemented by degrees from Harvard Kennedy School, University of Freiburg, and Université de Grenoble. With over 30 years of professional experience spanning the IFC, EBRD, IMF, academia, private sector, and government advisory roles across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, Lankes brings extensive global development expertise.

Lankes' research centers on international climate finance and the critical interface between climate action and development economics. His work emphasizes impact investing, private sector mobilization for sustainable development, and the synergistic relationship between climate policies and poverty reduction. He advocates for innovative financing mechanisms to channel private capital toward climate-resilient infrastructure in developing economies, highlighting how delayed climate action entrenches poverty while integrated approaches generate mutual benefits.

His publication record from 2021-2024 reveals a consistent policy-oriented focus on bridging climate action with development goals. Key themes include blended finance structures, multilateral development bank reform, climate club design, and the role of green technology/AI in inclusive growth. A unifying thread across his work is the imperative to align climate finance with poverty reduction strategies to avoid mutually detrimental outcomes.

Lankes actively collaborates with leading economists including Nicholas Stern and Roberta Pierfederici through the Grantham Institute and LSE/Oxford State Fragility Initiative, producing high-impact policy briefs for G20, G7, and international organizations that translate academic research into actionable governance frameworks.