Professional Experience
Associated Office
Rob Bernard was named CBRE’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President, Client Sustainability Solutions in February 2023. In this role, Mr. Bernard focuses on enabling CBRE’s customers to meet their sustainability objectives, and overseeing CBRE’s carbon-reduction and sustainability strategies for its own operations. In September 2021, CBRE pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2040.
As the world’s largest manager of commercial property, CBRE has an outsized opportunity to influence sustainability. With about 40% of the world’s carbon emissions coming from built environment, CBRE is working closely with its customers and partners to decarbonize buildings around the world.
Mr. Bernard joined CBRE with a two-decade background in sustainability and ESG solutions. Most recently, he founded and served as Managing Director of a private equity firm, Commonwealth Equity Partners, LLC, focused on investments in companies that participate in the circular economy.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Bernard served as Microsoft’s first Chief Environmental Strategist where he established a global strategic framework to transform company-wide approaches to carbon, climate, energy, water and waste.
He has also served as an advisor and consultant to National Geographic, Allbirds and Watsco, Inc.
Mr. Bernard holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.