Satu Santala: I see a lot of potential in NDF
Satu Santala, NDF’s new Managing Director, has built her career across the world and it now brings her back to the Nordic cooperation. With a strong Nordic identity and commitment to contribute to solving the big global challenges, she feels she has now found her home.
This is not the first time her paths cross with NDF. Back in 2009-2012, she represented the Finnish government in steering NDF through a big change in mandate, moving from development finance to climate finance.
“It was all very new at that time. Nobody really knew how climate finance works; we did not even have definitions or methodologies in place. Already then, I was impressed to see how NDF grasped the challenge and took things forward when everyone around was still rather puzzled on how to go about this.”
This decision opened a whole new chapter for NDF and took the organisation where it is now. The need for an early-stage financier, with catalytic impact and focus on the least developed countries has proven to be much needed in the climate finance arena.
Mature but still agile
Looking at NDF ten years later, many things have changed but she still feels the same pulse.
“I can see that NDF has grown and developed as an organisation but maintained its agility and efficiency. This is something many big financiers really appreciate. I see a lot of potential for NDF to be even stronger in the future.”
NDF has increasingly financed solutions that leverage private sector capital and expertise. It often steps up to take the risks when solutions are not yet in the horizon and not many financiers around. This is filling an important gap in climate finance and is the key to get more funders in the longer run.
“I am also happy to see how the Nordic governments value NDF. I feel that we are strongly rooted in their priorities, and they truly appreciate the way we can bring the Nordic priorities to the global climate finance.”
Cooperation is key
Cooperation is at the very heart of NDF’s work and this is something Satu really believes in.
She talks about the example of ARCAFIM, a project co-funded by NDF and her former employer International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with contributions from several other financiers, such as the Green Climate Fund, Denmark and Finland. The project aimed to catalyse and scale up private sector climate change adaptation financing for smallholder producers and rural micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural sector in Africa. It brought together public and private sectors, all with different skills and competences, all needed to make the project a success.
“None of us could have done this alone. Whether we are big or small, we will always do better if we work together.”
With her background with IFAD, World Bank and Nordic cooperation, she has an extensive portfolio of contacts, which will come very handy in guiding NDF through its next chapter.
Nordic diplomat with a heart for development
Satu sits back calm and relaxed in her new office. Her whole career has been with international relations, always with a focus on development. With NDF this all comes together.
“I have a genuine concern for the state of our planet and for the unequal burden it brings on people. I am here to guide NDF in addressing these challenges and be part of building a more just and fair world.”
She describes herself as an enthusiastic and curious optimist who gets her energy from the people around her. She is now looking forward to her new chapter with the NDF team, and a life closer to her family and friends in Finland.
“I feel that I have arrived home.”
