November 20, 2025

Meet the minds behind our work in this series of profile blogs. We regularly spotlight a researcher who’s asking the right questions, shaping better policy and bringing bold ideas to life—in pursuit of a stronger, cleaner economy.

This month, meet Caelan Welch, a research associate at SPI whose work focuses on sustainable finance—specifically, how tools like taxonomies and nature-related disclosures can strengthen markets, mobilize investment and make sustainability more than a buzzword. From defining what “sustainable” means to supporting the systems that make it measurable, Caelan’s work is helping Canada build the clarity needed to fund a more sustainable future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caelan Welch, Research Assistant at SPI

From small-town roots to global systems thinking

Caelan grew up in Kendall, New York, a small rural town between Rochester and Buffalo. His academic path didn’t start with finance; it began with a curiosity about people and systems.

“I did my undergrad at St. John Fisher in Rochester, New York, with a dual major in anthropology and economics. A year into pursuing this, the University started offering a sustainability minor. I ended up finishing the minor. It was interdisciplinary, integrating social sciences and environmental sciences.”

That early exposure led him to explore how economic policy tools could drive environmental change. His undergraduate capstone—a study on the efficacy of green bonds—sparked an interest in how money and sustainability intersect.

After taking a gap year, Caelan decided to continue his studies north of the border.

“I settled on the University of Ottawa. I liked the idea of being in Ottawa; it’s like being in D.C. because of its exposure to think tanks, but more affordable. I also wanted to come to Canada.”

While pursuing his master’s in international development and globalization with a specialization in environmental sustainability at the University’s Institute for the Environment, a pivotal conversation with Dr. Geoff McCarney, now SPI’s Executive Director, introduced him to a little-known concept that would define his career: sustainable finance taxonomy.

“I didn’t know anything about it. I was somewhat interested but not a lot. Geoff suggested focusing on taxonomy because of how niche it was. There were huge research gaps. It was an emerging topic. Doing so was a good opportunity to land on a focus with so many directions.”

“You can’t secure financing from people who don’t understand what they’re financing.”

Discovering the information tools that drive sustainability

For Caelan, what made taxonomy fascinating wasn’t just its novelty—it was its purpose.

“I was interested in the problems it was aiming to solve. I like the idea of a taxonomy providing clarity and borders. I liked the idea of information tools. I liked that disclosures and data are key enablers to sustainability.”

He quickly recognized that achieving sustainability goals depends as much on information as on investment.

“When talking about sustainability, the first thing we think about is money. You can’t do anything without funding, especially when it comes to non-profits. The baseline challenge of this is the information needs around this. You can’t secure financing from people who don’t understand what they’re financing.”

That realization became central to his master’s research and to his approach today.

From thesis to think tank

Caelan’s thesis became his gateway into the world of sustainable finance policy. While still a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, he joined the Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF) at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., as a research assistant, supporting the work of the Sustainable Finance Action Council’s (SFAC) Taxonomy Technical Expert Group.

After a year and a half at ISF, Caelan returned to SPI in Ottawa in May 2023, continuing to support the SFAC’s research.

“When I started, I was doing the research support for SFAC. SPI had already been working in research support roles in other working groups in the Council. This consolidated the research support for the SFAC in SPI. This is how I ended up working here.”

With his master’s now complete, he’s expanding his research into the broader world of information tools for sustainable finance.

The big question

“How do we mobilize the finance we need to meet sustainability goals?”

It’s the question at the heart of Caelan’s work. For him, mobilizing sustainable finance means more than designing frameworks; it’s about helping people use them.

“My initial work with the SFAC was focused on hammering out the rationales for those frameworks and speaking to policymakers. Now my work is on how to bring these ideas to fruition. Building a knowledge base in Canada, engaging in capacity-building initiatives to support sustainable finance market participants in using these tools to scale financing.”

Why it matters

Ultimately, Caelan believes that sustainability depends on clear, accessible information.

“It matters because to do this as a society—whether from a business, societal or policy perspective—we need the right information to make that happen. Without information, we can’t do anything.”

He also sees a personal side to this work.

“Whether I’m a huge pension fund or a little investor, it’s hard to invest in sustainable things if we don’t know what sustainability is and how sustainable a company is. My hope is to empower people who also want to invest responsibly or just want to learn more about the sustainability of a company.”

Lessons from research

Caelan’s thesis revealed how much work remains to align global definitions of sustainability.

“I’m surprised at the complexity of a lot of this. It’s not just putting a taxonomy in place. There are so many challenges that come up. How do companies get the data to implement these things? How does a company align with a taxonomy? There are so many data needs.”

He also discovered a persistent lack of coordination between governments—a problem he believes hampers progress.

“With national taxonomies that haven’t been coordinated, you end up with sustainability meaning different things to different people. There’s little coordination to make taxonomies interoperable. I’m surprised at the low level of awareness that exists around certain challenges and then still, the lack of coordination.”

His thesis asked a deeper question: who gets to decide what sustainability means?

“It’s not just about what sustainability is, but also who we are allowing to define it. The EU taxonomy has become a model in a lot of places. But are the EU climate goals too ambitious for a developing country?”

Clearing up misconceptions

Caelan is quick to address one of the most common misunderstandings about taxonomy.

“The common misunderstanding is that if its use is mandatory, a taxonomy requires investments in the activities it defines. This isn’t the case and never will be. No country is putting a taxonomy in place and then telling companies these are the only activities to invest in.”

Instead, he explains, a taxonomy is about defining performance levels, not labelling activities as inherently sustainable or unsustainable.

“An inclusion of an activity in a taxonomy doesn’t mean it’s sustainable—it has to meet performance criteria.”

He gives the example of buildings:

“If you know what performance level to aspire to be a green building, it gives you a goal to aim for. You now have the criteria to invest in improving your building’s energy performance.”

Bringing order to complexity

What Caelan enjoys most about his work is the intellectual challenge and the sense of structure it brings to an uncertain field.

“I enjoy the challenges it poses. It’s not an easy problem. I like the idea that a taxonomy is a classification system. Most of us don’t realize how many classification systems are in our lives—like what traffic lights mean or how grocery store aisles are organized. I like that this is trying to bring order to a place that lacks order.”

For him, that’s the essence of sustainable finance: creating clarity where confusion once stood.

Life beyond research

Outside of work, Caelan spends as much time outdoors as possible.

“I love spending time outdoors. I like to hike. I’m a big music lover. I love going to music festivals or concerts—that’s why I spend a lot of time in Montreal. They have so many festivals.”

He’s also an avid reader of non-fiction and science fiction.

“It helps me refine my opinions but also helps me think about my research differently.”

And one fun fact?
“I have a fraternal twin sister.”

Looking ahead

Caelan hopes to keep building on his taxonomy work—connecting Canada’s policy framework to real-world applications.

“I’d like to build on my thesis work. It would be a shame to leave it by the wayside. I’d like to expand into broader sustainable finance policy and how to support putting in place the policy framework that hasn’t materialized.”

His big idea for the future of sustainable finance: make national taxonomies interoperable.

“My thesis made high-level recommendations around how to make taxonomies interoperable. Countries need to come together and agree on mutual recognition for taxonomy to achieve interoperability.”

And as always, he’s thinking critically about impact.

“We need to start looking into taxonomy efficacy. Is it doing what it promised to do? And if not, what do we need to change about it?”

Want to learn more?

Read a sample of Caelan’s work, discover our sustainable finance research and read more profiles in this series. Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly research highlights and upcoming publications.

Visit the series’ landing page to read more profiles and check back often; we’re adding new profiles regularly.