Reforestation Expert | Founder of Restore the Legacy & Rainforest Rebel
Renee Smits
As a reforestation expert with over 45 years of family legacy in ecosystem restoration, she turns complex climate challenges into tropical insights that are clear, practical and ready to apply. Renee connects policy to biodiversity, business to nature, and her audience to real solutions that stick.
Languages:
Employability:
Chairperson,Keynote Speaker,Workshops
Employability:
Chairperson,Keynote Speaker,Workshops,
About Renee Smits
Renee Smits is an international speaker known for her unique blend of field experience, system thinking, and a clear, accessible style. She translates complex sustainability challenges into tangible insights and profitable, nature-based solutions with a strong focus on tropical reforestation, biodiversity, and CSRD implementation.
Raised in a globally respected family of environmental scientists and reforestation pioneers, she now leads active reforestation projects in Indonesia. Her work is grounded in real ecosystems, not just theory, and that’s exactly what she brings to the stage.
With 16 years in corporate sustainability banking, Renee bridges the gap between ecological impact and business value. Her ability to align CSRD with real-world strategy stems from deep industry insight and firsthand knowledge of what sustainable transformation looks like on both balance sheets and forest floors.
She has spoken at COP28, the European Parliament, City Expo Dubai, the Forestry Forum, the ESG Show, and numerous leading financial and academic platforms,
taking the stage at some of the world’s most influential gatherings on sustainability and policy.
Bringing CSRD to the canopy — with roots, not just reports.
Renee doesn’t just talk about change — she grows it.
Specialist Subjects
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP
"Thank you for getting us off to such a high-level, high-velocity start. Within minutes of you finishing one partner told me that it was the best hour of his 30 year career - and that comment pretty much set the tone of feedback. People were especially impressed that you had one eye on global trends and the other quite specifically on things you knew about our business - this seemed to create a real bridge from the 'big picture' to the 'life on my pod'. It was a great pleasure working with you on this and I hope we shall be able to do something else before too long."
References
Your talks at COP28 caught many people’s attention!
"Your talks at COP28 caught many people’s attention, as you introduced them to the sounds of the forest, and brought them into your world."
As a speaker she is excellent and her passion shines through as she talks about the topics that are clearly important to her.
"As a speaker she is excellent— this much is obvious — and her passion shines through as she talks about the topics that are clearly important to her."