[citation needed] In 1995, Elderson obtained an LLM degree from Columbia Law School, in the United States, and was sworn in as a lawyer in the Netherlands on the same year.

[citation needed] In October 2020, he was proposed by the Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra to succeed Yves Mersch as executive board member of the European Central Bank.

[15][16] In 2016, he founded and chaired the Sustainable Finance Platform, a forum hosted by the Dutch national bank gathering central bankers, government officials and civils society groups.

[19] The NGFS aims to "help strengthening the global response required to meet the goals of the Paris agreement and to enhance the role of the financial system to manage risks and to mobilize capital for green and low-carbon investments in the broader context of environmentally sustainable development.

To this end, the Network defines and promotes best practices to be implemented within and outside of the Membership of the NGFS and conducts or commissions analytical work on green finance.