Aaron Cantrell

Aaron Cantrell leads work on just transition at the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). Based in New York, he supports banks and insurers to align climate action with economic and social priorities and to develop, pilot, and scale just transition finance practices. Before joining UNEP FI in 2024, Aaron founded and led Future Nexus, a consultancy on green industrial and trade policy, sustainable finance, and just transition. At Future Nexus, he designed a Just Transition Finance Facility for the Asian Development Bank, contributed to key provisions of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, authored UN guidance on just transition, and co-authored a 2025 G20 Presidential Paper on how international trade, investment, and finance regimes shape the sustainable industrial policy space in developing countries. Earlier, he was chief economist at Record Financial Group, developing the firm's emerging market currency impact investment strategy. Aaron holds postgraduate degrees from Oxford University, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Nanjing University, and is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.