Michael Liebreich

Michael Liebreich is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, alongside serving on the Advisory Group for the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Mr. Liebreich has dedicated his career, which has included experience in venture capital, as a media executive, and an entrepreneur, towards furthering the development of clean energy and sustainable development.

Michael Liebriech is Chairman of the Advisory Board of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the world’s leading provider of research for senior decision-makers in clean energy and transportation. He is also a Board Member of Transport for London, the capital’s transport authority, a member of the high-level advisory board of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative and holds a variety of other directory and advisory positions in business and the non-profit sector. Michael is a Visiting Professor at the Imperial College Energy Futures Lab.

Michael founded New Energy Finance in 2004 and acted as Chairman and Chief Executive until selling it to Bloomberg LP in 2009. Now called Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the business is headquartered in London, with over 200 staff working out of 13 offices globally; its clients include most of the major ministries, investors, energy and technology companies in transport and energy.

Michael also serves on the High-Level Advisory Group for the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative, and he founded and chairs three charities: Finance for Resilience (FiRe), the Swiss-based EcoVillages Association and the Liebreich Foundation. He chairs the selection committee for the Bloomberg New Energy Pioneers, which are announced each year at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit, and is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College’s Energy Futures Lab. Michael was a founding Board Member of the Dubai-based Middle East Clean Energy Business Council and is an inaugural member of the Advisory Council of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. He has recently joined the advisory boards of Bright Blue’s Green Conservatism Project, and The Hawthorn Club, an international network for professional women in the energy industry. Michael is also a founding Advisory Board Member of Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER).

Michael has in the past served on the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative‘s Energy and Climate Change working group, as well as on the selection panels for the Zayed Future Energy Prize and the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers. He was a long-time member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils for Sustainable Energy and the New Energy Architecture, where he helped launch an initiative which led to WTO negotiations for an Environmental Goods Agreement (expected to conclude in a trade deal before the end of 2016). Michael has also been a member of the Accenture Energy Board and a member of the advisory panel for the INSEAD Energy Club.

Michael chairs St. Mark’s Hospital Foundation, a charity supporting research and teaching in colorectal medicine at St Mark’s Hospital, part of London North West Healthcare NHS, currently launching the St Mark’s Institute for Bowel Disease. He is also a technology angel investor, chair and co-founder of London-based travel information start-up Pearlshare. He is a three-time finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, and in June 2015 was presented with the Renewable Energy Association’sJudges Award for his outstanding contribution to the development of renewable energy. He is also co-author of three peer-reviewed academic papers on energy-related topics.

Prior to founding New Energy Finance, Michael was an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and media executive. In the 1990s he acted as Deputy Managing Director of Associated Press Television, Founding Director of Sports News Television and UK Managing Director of Groupe Arnault’s technology investment activities. He also spent five years as part of the London office of management consultants McKinsey & Company.

Michael graduated in Engineering from the University of Cambridge with first class honours, winning the Ricardo Prize for Thermodynamics, the Christ’s College Wyatt Prize and a College Scholarship. He earned his MBA from Harvard, where he was a Harkness Fellow and Baker Scholar and earned first and second year honours. He was a member of the British Ski Team from 1986 to 1993, competing in two World Championships and the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games. Michael lives in West London with his wife and three young children.