Torsten Thiele is an expert in ocean governance and sustainable blue finance, drawing on over 20 years of experience in project and infrastructure financing within major financial institutions, including in Africa. He also has more than a decade of research on oceans, with a focus on sustainable blue economy and innovative financing solutions.
Torsten Thiele is the founder of Global Ocean Trust, a strategic advisor to the IUCN's ocean team and the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, and a senior advisor to the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance. His recent publications cover financing in the high seas, climate policy, coastal infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and innovative ocean solutions. He contributes his expertise as an assistant to the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy and has recently co-authored their report on ocean solutions for climate.
Torsten Thiele holds degrees from the universities of Cambridge, Bonn, and Harvard. He is an affiliated researcher at the Institute of Sustainability Research at the Helmholtz Centre in Potsdam, Germany, and an honorary member of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the United Kingdom.