Biography

Dr. Sebastian Rath is a strategy advisor to boards, climate investors, and investment managers at the intersection of transition finance, physical climate risk, and industrial resilience. He is the founder of Lighthouse Bay Solutions and has previously held senior roles at Boston Consulting Group, NN Group, McKinsey, KPMG, and Hiscox. He holds a doctorate in engineering from Hamburg University of Technology. Board Company-certified, he is based in the Netherlands and is active across BeNeLux, Germany, and the North Sea region. His engagement with the European University Institute reflects a long-standing commitment to building capacity at the intersection of climate science, financial architecture, and public policy.

His experience spans three interconnected domains:

Physical climate risk and its financial translation. Sebastian developed national flood risk models for Germany and the UK from 2002, applying systemic modelling capabilities across insurance, infrastructure, and investment contexts. He advised establishing national catastrophe risk facilities, including Flood Re in the UK, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, and the Florida Hurricane Commission. This technical foundation — rare at the senior advisory level — informs the way he helps boards and risk functions translate climate scenario language into capital-structure decisions.

Transition finance and governance. Sebastian advises boards, CIOs, and fund leadership on the decisions at the hard edge of transition strategy: how to structure plans that satisfy CSRD without impairing strategic flexibility, where blended finance genuinely de-risks industrial investment, and which carbon market mechanisms are approaching institutional credibility. He has contributed to major policy frameworks, including the final report to embed TCFD recommendations into insurance sector practice, with publications across UNEP FI, the CRO Forum, and Insurance Associations.

Policy implementation and market design. As a European Climate Pact Ambassador nominated by DG Clima, Sebastian supports climate initiatives that seek durable benefits across people, nature, businesses, and governments. He advises on sustainability integration across the Just Transition, financial inclusion, TNFD, and biodiversity — and regularly contributes to board-level forums on the evolving role of climate finance, insurance solutions, and regulatory design in the transition economy.