The Good Food Institute (GFI) has announced that Nigel Sizer – a climate and public health expert and former head of the Rainforest Alliance – will be joining as its new chief executive on 26 August.

GFI, a non-profit think tank dedicated to the global alternative protein industry, said Sizer will help lead its strategic programming and operations in the US and worldwide. He will work closely with GFI teams in Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, Japan, India and Israel.

Based in New York, Sizer will lead all aspects of operations and administration in partnership with GFI president and founder Bruce Friedrich and the organisation’s regional leads around the globe.

Prior to joining GFI, he served as president and CEO of the Rainforest Alliance and as global director of forests for World Resources Institute. During this time, he helped launch and grow the Global Forest Watch, the Global Restoration Initiative and the Forest Legality Alliance.

Following the Covid-19 outbreak, Sizer also founded Preventing Pandemic at the Source, leading a 20-organisation coalition focused on upstream pandemic prevention policies. In addition to this, he has held positions at the United Nations Environment Programme, the Nature Conservancy, Rare, and other non-profit boards focusing on climate and public health.

GFI’s work spans science, policy, industry and philanthropy to advance alternative proteins, such as those made from plants, via fermentation or cultivated from animal cells. By doing this, it aims to help meet the world’s climate, health, food security and biodiversity goals – diversifying protein production can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, land and water use, and the widespread use of antibiotics within our food system.

Commenting on his appointment, Sizer said he is “honoured to be joining this team of change-makers”.

“After years quantifying the land use, health and climate damage of commodity animal agriculture, I am convinced that alternative proteins are the single most powerful opportunity to curb deforestation, biodiversity loss, pandemic risk and greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

“How we feed humanity without destroying nature, and in ways that enable a greater diversity of life to thrive, deserves north star focus. GFI’s theory of change, its global network and its catalytic efforts across science, policy, industry and philanthropy are critical.”

GFI founder and president Friedrich said: “Nigel Sizer has spent his career addressing the root causes of some of the biggest challenges of our time – a major motivation that drew him to GFI, our mission and our theory of change. With each disruption to our global food system, and demand for meat on the rise in virtually every economy in the world, the links between agriculture, climate, biodiversity, public health and malnutrition become ever more clear.”