Experts & Staff

Holger Dalkmann has fifteen years of experience working in the field of transport, sustainability and climate change. He joined WRI in 2011 as the director for its EMBARQ program, which catalyzes environmentally and financially sustainable transport solutions to improve quality of life in cities. He provides strategic leadership and management for EMBARQ’s global staff and partners, as well as direction for its fundraising and communication activities. Holger joins WRI with a strong background in business development, research, and policy in the transport and environment sectors.

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Formerly he worked as Programme Director for Sustainable Transport and Climate Change at TRL, a world renowned research and consultancy company with more than 450 people, where he was responsible for leading the business in his chosen field with a remit for business development, strategic planning and representation at the highest level.

During his professional career he has established a strong network in the field of transport, sustainable development and climate change multilateral development banks (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American cooperating, working with key UN organisations like UNEP, UNESCAP, UNHABITAT, UNDESA and UNFCCC; Development Bank); foundations like Volvo Foundation, Nippon Foundation, Volkswagen Stiftung; bilateral aid organisations (German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)); private companies (automobile industry, public transport, rail industry); non-governmental organisations; and academia.

Through his work at TRL and for ten years at the Wuppertal Institute for Energy, Climate and Environment (Germany), a world respected think tank, Holger developed new areas of expertise and established his teams as centres of excellence (e.g. mobility management, public transport KPI, Strategic Environmental Assessment; Transport and Climate Change). The most recent success was founding the Bridging the Gap Initiative – a cooperation between different of organisations from aid agencies to private sector – which has provided a solid source for funding for TRL, as well as high level policy advice. He is also one of the co-founders of the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SloCAT), where he is one of the driving forces in terms of network development, as well as intellectual and technical input.

Holger’s academic background allows him to overlook technical work in all areas of transport (from social behaviour and economics, to technical and planning background) as well as acting frequently as peer reviewer for academic journals, major publishers and for other institutions like ADB, GEF STAP. For the UNEP Green Economy Report, he is the lead author of the transport chapter. He enjoys mentoring key staff in managerial, networking competencies as well as developing technical expertise.