In the newly created role, Mr Holgate would would focus on helping the bank’s clients position themselves to best manage increasing environmental, societal and market risk as well as "seizing opportunities" created by a scarcity of resources and a growing global population, the bank said in a statement.
Mr Holgate has been with Rabobank since 2013, most recently as the sustainability and animal proteins analyst. Prior to joining Rabobank, he practised as an environmental lawyer.
Brought up on a sheep and beef farm in South Otago, Mr Holgate said he was excited to move into the new role during what was "quite a transformational period" for agriculture in New Zealand.
During his eight years with the bank, it had been an interesting time; the sector and farmers had faced a lot of pressure to focus on environmental sustainability.
Those pressures were still there but it was probably the pace and scope of change that was different now.
When he first started, the freshwater regulatory space was starting to "amp up" — that was still there and had probably "gone up a gear" — but now it was also coming into climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon and biodiversity.
It was "layer on top of layer" and consumer and market pressure was also now a driver, he said.
While there was a lot of change happening, there was also a lot of innovation and new ways of doing things, and it was an exciting time. There was a role for all rural professionals to add value, he said.
In a statement, Rabobank New Zealand chief executive Todd Charteris said Rabobank was acutely aware of the market forces and regulatory changes related to sustainability that were impacting clients and was committed to helping them to understand and address the resulting challenges.
That support included making policy submissions on government — which incorporated its views and those of its clients on legislation and regulation affecting the sector — as well as providing clients with in-depth reports examining issues linked to sustainable farming.
The bank recently developed a new approach to help clients build a detailed snapshot of the non-financial performance of their business which included collection of information relating to their agronomic, environmental, and social and workplace performance, Mr Charteris said.
Mr Holgate would also play a pivotal role in Rabobank’s efforts to develop additional products and services aimed at helping clients’ businesses be more commercially and environmentally sustainable.
“We expect to see the market for sustainable finance — finance specifically used for activities which produce a verifiable positive impact on the environment or society — to grow strongly over coming years and Blake will play a lead role in identifying new opportunities for the bank and our clients in this area,” he said.
He would also work closely with KiwiHarvest — the bank’s new national food rescue charity partner — to help address food waste issues within New Zealand’s food and agribusiness supply chain.
