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Profile

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed

Assistant Professor in Sustainable Finance, Principal Investigator of INSURE

Background

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed is an internationally recognised expert in sustainable finance, with extensive research and training experience in climate finance and inclusive finance for global development. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor in Sustainable Finance at Newcastle University Business School (NUBS). Dr Ahmed is also the Principal Investigator of INSURE project, an externally funded research project at NUBS, where he leads a multidisciplinary team advancing innovative financial solutions to support sustainable, resilient, and just cities. Previously, he has held academic and research positions at the University of Cambridge, University of Otago, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, and has held guest lectures at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester.

Iftekhar has contributed research and policy insights to global organisations, including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). He is a Lead Author for the IPBES Nexus Assessment, focusing on financial mechanisms to address the intertwined global crises of biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change.

His research has been published in leading international journals, including Research in International Business and Finance, 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, with a particular interest in emerging markets and developing economies.


External links:

Bluesky

LinkedIn

X/Twitter

Research

Iftekhar's research interests lie in sustainable finance and environmental risk analytics, with applications in corporate finance, real estate 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 Finance degree to our Master’s courses and postgraduate research supervision. A commitment to public engagement in research is a feature of all three streams.

Ø Catalysing Innovative Sustainable Finance for Climate and Nature

  • Climate risk analytics and financial stability
  • Transition finance and carbon market mechanisms
  • Local/Municipal financial architectures and governance
  • Financial instruments for wetlands, mangroves and blue-green infrastructure
  • AI, data science and Earth observation in financing sustainable solutions

Ø Systemic Resilience, Growth and Development

  • Biodiversity/water-finance-food security nexus
  • Regenerative and inclusive growth and development
  • Financing sustainable, resilient and equitable cities/urban future
  • Intertwined systemic risks, resilient urban infrastructure and adaptation

Ø Ethical Finance, Banking and Sustainability

  • Topics in (Islamic) microfinance/banking
  • Islamic banking and instruments for climate actions
  • Islamic social finance, private wealth and philanthropy for SDGs

Current PhD students:

  1. Zhaokun Zhou (co-supervisor): Green innovation and bank lending
  2. Boyang Han (primary supervisor): Essays in climate policy and IPO
  3. Qimiao Qian (primary supervisor): Essays in carbon markets and AI (Funded through NUBS Innovation and Enterprise Endowment)

PhD Panel Member

  • Shuai Ren: Open banking: A synergy model approach

PhD Internal Examiner

  • Mengya Wu: Bank credit risk under non-financial challenges

PhD External Examiner

  • Ishfaque Ahmed: COVID-19, crypto assets and portfolio diversification


Teaching

Module Teaching and Leadership:

  • NBS8633: Green Finance and Sustainability, [Module Leader, 2023/4 - present]
  • NBS8332: Financial Theory [2023/4 - 2024/5]
  • ACC3000: Case Studies in Finance, Accounting and Business [2023/4 - present]
  • NBS8998 with NBS8999: Academic Skills (A&F Database Lab) - [Module Leader, 2023/4 - present]


Publications