Martín Urrutia Illanes was always drawn to solving difficult problems. After spending days shadowing his father, a crop and soil specialist in rural Chile, Urrutia was first inspired to think about climate challenges when he was still a kid.
Trained as an engineer, Urrutia started working in construction, but he was disheartened by the lack of emphasis on sustainability. With a degree in industrial civil engineering and a diploma in construction engineering from Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Urrutia decided renewable energy was the way to combine his interests and effect real change in Chile. Still, something was missing. Aside from the technical aspects of the work, he saw the need to understand the feasibility of a project, which he explored through his recent role as a financial analyst with Sonnedix, a global renewable energy firm.
Now, Urrutia is one of three recipients of the Stanley Park Climate Finance Scholarship for the M.S. in Climate Finance degree at the Columbia Climate School, offered in partnership with the Columbia Business School. His wife, Clara Benavente Valdes, an engineer and sustainability leader in clean energy and the global energy transition, is in the program alongside him.
Read more about Urrutia’s path to climate finance in the interview below.
Can you share a little about your background and how you became interested in climate?
I started being interested in climate when I was very young because of my father. He is an agronomist who worked in the Chilean countryside. As a kid, whenever I got a free day at school, I would usually join him and work with him through the countryside. I could see daily how weather or climate affected our lives. For instance, when we had a dry or rainy winter, I had a sense of what a difference that made in our lives afterward.
I went on to study engineering. I was pretty good at math and I liked solving problems so I thought that was where I should go. At the beginning, I was really interested in construction and civic works. My internship and diploma were in construction. But when I was doing my internship, I realized that something was lacking. There was no focus on sustainability in my work at that time, which I thought was wrong.
What drew you to climate finance?
After I graduated, I started thinking about what the best place to work related to sustainability was in Chile. It became clear to me that this was renewable energy. Why? Chile is a country that, first of all, is very susceptible to climate change because of our geography and the weather conditions. But solar radiation in the north and the wind in the south are some of [the most abundant natural resources] in the world. I decided that here is where I can play my part.
When I was developing a project in renewable energy, in my first two-and-a-half to three years, I realized that you could have a solid technical project, but I didn’t understand the finance part. So I decided to change my focus. I found this opportunity at Sonnedix as a financial analyst. That’s why I started working in climate finance, especially in doing models for utility projects and that kind of work.
It sounds like you’re seeing both sides now, or trying to understand the full picture of sustainable building and engineering, as well as how to finance them.
I think that back in university, I had one course in sustainable construction. It was really cool, but it was one of my last semesters in university. That’s why I was really shocked that when I started working in the real estate company, they didn’t care so much about the sustainability of their project. They just wanted to sell the apartment. For me, I’m an engineer and a businessman. I like seeing problems in a 360-degree view. That’s why I like understanding the problem, being on the ground, and not just seeing numbers in a spreadsheet.
What do you hope to gain from the climate finance degree and how will it add to the skills you already have?
I learned finance just by getting my hands dirty, but I really want to sharpen those skills. I want to learn more about the theoretical part and also the different financial structures to help me in the future. I don’t like looking finance as just a number in a spreadsheet, as I said before. I think this master’s is really special in that it’s half climate, half finance—you have an opportunity to learn from different perspectives what the problem is and then how to tackle it with numbers. It’s really special for me because I want to be part of the change here in Chile. The renewal transition is at full speed over here.
I would also like to see the environment in New York. I know all the lenders, advisors and shareholders interact in the same ecosystem over there, so I think that I’m going to learn a lot. And I’ll be able to bring this back to Chile.
What are your goals after the program?
I want to keep working in the renewable industry. Renewable projects like solar and wind in Chile are skyrocketing, and we’re now seeing different kinds of problems, transmission bottlenecks, pricing challenges. The market is not yet stable. After the program, I don’t know how the market’s going to be. I think I want to come back to develop projects and their financing, and be part of the growth—to try to be in both sections. I also want to be able to participate in this transition from the private sector. The renewable energy projects are not getting financed right now because the energy prices are too low. There will be changes coming soon and I want to be part of that.
What keeps you motivated?
I’m going here with my wife, Clara, who is also studying climate finance. That’s why this scholarship is so amazing. I was excited and honored to receive it, but it’s also a financial relief, because paying tuition for both of us is a lot. This is like a family project for us. Clara doesn’t work in renewable energy per se; she works more with e-fuels and green hydrogen. It really keeps me motivated to grow with her and look to the future where we can make change here in Chile as a couple—maybe not working together, but in the same field.
