Management Board

Markus Hüwener is the CEO of First Climate. He oversees fund management and the trading business. Markus managed several large transactions in the EU emissions trading market with a combined volume of over 15 million t CO2e. He initiated and structured the Climate Change Investment I S.A. fund with a volume of EUR 70 million. Before founding 3C, one of the predecessors of First Climate, Markus was Managing Director at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), the investment bank of Allianz Group, in Frankfurt, Germany, where he introduced emissions trading in 2003.

Urs Brodmann is First Climate’s Chief Risk Officer. He is responsible for risk management and methodological work. Urs has overseen the development and registration of over 30 CDM projects and carbon transactions in excess of 30 million tonnes of CO₂e. He examined various methodology applications on behalf of the CDM Executive Board. Before founding Factor, one of the predecessors of First Climate, he worked as an advisor in the fields of energy, transport and carbon trading for a leading Swiss consultancy firm.

Dr. Sascha Lafeld oversees the commercialization of VER projects, the development of carbon neutral activities for corporate clients, the expansion into the US market and corporate communications. So far, Sascha has overseen the commercialization of over 100 VER and CDM projects. He acts as official advisor to the UNEP Finance Initiative and the Allianz Insurance Climate Core Group. Before founding 3C, one of the predecessors of First Climate, Sascha was Head of Dresdner Bank’s Climate Change Strategy and worked as a consultant for international environmental politics at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Alexander Lüchinger is a member of the Executive Board of the First Climate AG and President of the Board of First Climate (Switzerland) AG. He is responsible for the Carbon Asset Development and HR departments. He has over 30 years experience in implementing projects in the heat and power sector and the environmental sector. Alexander developed and implemented projects in about 30 countries with a value of over EUR 60 million, mainly in EITs and CIS states. In 1996 Alexander started developing - together with Urs Brodmann - the first bilateral climate protection project ever validated, a project still monitored by First Climate today. In 1999, Alexander was one of the co-founders of Factor Consulting & Management AG.

Thomas Stetter is First Climate’s COO. He oversees the Project Finance department as well as IT, Accounting and Legal. He established our subsidiaries in China, South America and India, resulting in more than 10 million CERs under contract. In the project finance sector, Thomas structured and advised energy and infrastructure projects of a value of over EUR 1,5 billion. Before founding Factor, one of the predecessors of First Climate, Thomas headed the project management department of a leading Swiss consultancy firm and launched and managed the company's subsidiary in Potsdam.