Thomas van Gilst

Thomas van Gilst has been Head of the Water Security and Resilience Division (previously “Water Management”) within the European Investment Bank’s Projects Directorate since 2016. The Bank finances some EUR 2 to 4 billion worth of water, wastewater and flood protection projects annually, following investments from preparation to completion of works. 

Trained as a water resources engineer at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands, he began his career as consultant in the fields of irrigation, water and wastewater and urban drainage with Royal Haskoning, a Netherlands-based engineering consulting firm. He went on to work in business development with Enron and Thames Water, both in London. With Thames Water, he was heavily involved in setting up WSUP (Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor), a private sector-NGO-academia based partnership focusing on providing sustainable water and sanitation services in peri-urban areas in developing countries.  

Since joining the EIB in 2006, he has led a broad portfolio of water sector projects financed by the Bank both inside and outside Europe through a variety of financial products.