Deutsche Bank names first Global Head of Sustainable Finance

Deutsche Bank has named Esra Turk as Global Head of Sustainable Finance – a newly created role.
Turk has been at Deutsche Bank since 2021, most recently as CEEMEA Institutional Client Group and Chair of the Investment Bank for the Middle East and Africa. Before 2021, she spent 18 years at Barclays in different commercial roles.
In her new position as Global Head of Sustainable Finance, she will report to Deutsche Bank Chief Sustainability Officer Jörg Eigendorf, who announced her appointment on Linkedin.
“We have a critical role to play in supporting companies and governments globally to transition to a low-carbon economy. The world needs to transition at an unprecedented pace and we at Deutsche Bank are determined to facilitate this fundamental change wherever possible.
“We see particularly exciting opportunities in emerging markets where demand for renewable energy is growing fast, but infrastructure still needs to be developed. There is huge scope to make a difference. With her deep client insights and her experience of running FIC Coverage in Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America for Deutsche Bank, Esra is perfectly suited to lead our sustainable finance franchise to the next level globally,” Eigendorf said.
Deutsche Bank’s best quarterly sustainable finance result
Last week, Deutsche Bank announced that it provided €28.4 billion in sustainable finance in the second quarter of 2025 – its best quarter since 2021. Among the deals the German bank signed between April and July, its corporate banking arm was involved in financing Australia’s first-ever Renewable Energy Zone transmission network, which is expected to supply electricity to more than two million homes annually, and its investment bank acted as global coordinator in a €1.4 billion debt financing for German renewable firm NeXtWind.
Announcing this result, Eigendorf added that the sovereign market contributed significantly to sustainable finance volumes: “We were Joint Lead Manager for the Republic of Slovenia's inaugural €1 billion 10-year sustainability-linked bond, and we were Joint Lead Manager in the first EU Green Bond of a Spanish company, issued by Iberdrola. And our Private Bank reported a €5 billion growth in ESG assets under management and new lending.”
For the CSO, the results demonstrate that sustainability is far from being deprioritised for the bank’s clients.
“Our clients, whether corporate, institutional or private, want solutions to finance the transition of the energy infrastructure and link their performance to sustainability indicators. It has become a normal part of doing business and prudent risk management – as it has become for us,” he added.
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