AGENDA

Paul served as the Executive Secretary of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Paul also co-founded the International Centre for Transitional Justice, an organization that works in over 40 countries that have endured massive human rights violations under repression conflict. Paul is also a co-founder and CEO of Maiyet, an ethical luxury fashion brand that cultivates traditional design and culture by partnering with global artisans. Most recently, Paul co-founded The Conduit, which serves as a home for those committed to improving the world by harnessing the power of creativity and entrepreneurship. The Conduit serves as a home for a diverse community of people passionate about social change.

Nigel Topping, CMG was appointed by the UK Prime Minister as UN Climate Change High Level Champion for COP26. In this role Nigel mobilised global private sector and local
government to take bold action on climate change, launching the Race To Zero and Race To Resilience campaigns and, with Mark Carney, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Nigel is now a global advisor to governments, financial institutions, and private companies on climate and industrial strategy. He is a non-executive director of the UK Infrastructure Bank, and an Honorary Professor of Economics at Exeter University, and was awarded the honour of CMG in Queen Elizabeth’s final honours list in 2022.

In 2024 Nigel founded Ambition Loop with Gonzalo Munoz.

Director General of British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) since April 2021, Shevaun was formerly Head of Business Engagement at Number 10 Downing Street and was at the heart of Government in the Cabinet Office as Head of the Inclusive Economy Partnership.

Shevaun started her career in consultancy in London and New York. She then moved to the Walt Disney Company in strategic planning before joining Disneyland Paris, opening its second theme park. Shevaun then joined the agency world, running global accounts for Millward Brown, Mindshare and WPP.

Following this, she started her own business as a partner in a digital innovation agency and venture builder, Independents United, where she also became an Advisor for the Danson Foundation. Most recently, Shevaun was the New Ventures Director for Avado, building new businesses in Edtech and founding the Academy of Digital Business Leaders.

Shevaun has a passion for business as a force for good. She was elected to the International Chambers of Commerce’s (ICC) World Chambers Federation General Council and is a Board member of ICC UK. She is a Trustee of the Women of the World Foundation (WoW) and a Trustee of Barefoot College International.

Eva-Maria Dimitriadis is Managing Partner of Conduit Connect Ltd which connects high impact businesses with the resources needed to scale their impact. Eva is on the investment committee for the Conduit EIS Impact Fund which backs diverse founders building highly scalable businesses in the thematic sectors of Climate, Health, Education and Inclusion. Prior to Conduit Connect, Eva was Chief Operating Officer at C5 Accelerate where she built and ran their global accelerator program, working with founders from around the world. Through its offices in Washington DC, London and Bahrain, C5 incubated and invested in pre-series A tech startups using cloud technology for positive social change. The alumni portfolio comprises over 70 startups working across a number of verticals including AgTech, EdTech, HealthTech, Fintech, CleanTech, and Cybersecurity. Prior to C5, Eva served as Chief of Staff to the CEO at Christie’s. During her nine years at Christie's she also worked in Business Development focusing on the company’s expansion into growth markets such as India, China, the Middle East, and Africa.  

Eva is originally Greek, born in London, grew up in Zimbabwe and has an MA (Oxon) in PPP from Oxford University. She is passionate about supporting female founders and empowering women to take control of their investment decisions. Eva mentors a number of startups and entrepreneurs. In her spare time she has served as a trustee for the Kay Mason Foundation and development board member of the English National Ballet. 

Ajaita Shah is the Founder & CEO of Frontier Markets, India's premiere rural-assisted social commerce platform. With over 18 years of expertise, she champions women economic development, clean energy, and financial inclusion. Under her leadership, Frontier Markets connects over a million women customers to impactful solutions across thousands of villages. Ajaita's transformative initiative "She-Leads Bharat" aims to uplift 1 million women entrepreneurs and serve 100 million rural households by 2030. Her outstanding contributions have earned her prestigious awards like Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2024, Forbes 30 Under 30, Women Transforms India Award, National Startup Award 2022, CNBC’s Women Entrepreneur of the Year and more. In 2024, Ajaita was appointed as the first-ever advocate for South Asia by UN Trade and Development. Ajaita's speaking engagements at top global forums, board roles, and involvement in impactful funds showcase her commitment to driving positive change.

Hannah is currently Chief Operating Officer at B4NZ. Hannah has over a decade of experience with the Big4 leading major transformation programmes and for the last 5 years has worked with executive leadership teams and boards, advising on ESG and sustainability strategy.   

Hannah has worked with major cross sector organisations, focussing on climate change and risk management. In doing this Hannah has been compelled to work with market coalitions and initiatives which define the future ecosystem where finance can flow with ease and organisations demonstrating the right sustainable behaviours are financially rewarded. The flow of capital to the real economy and working across innovative market solutions is what lead Hannah to B4NZ. 

Hannah is adept at building great relationships with repeated experience of quickly building trusted networks, and the ability to influence with ease. She is renowned for maintaining energy and positivity whilst leading teams through challenging periods of change. 

Guy Ranawake is an experienced financial professional with considerable experience in the green finance space. He is currently a Venture Partner at the Conduit EIS Impact Fund, an independent adviser and Fractional CFO to a variety of ClimateTech / CleanTech-focused SME’s with a particular focus on finance strategy and capital raising. Guy is also a NED for Aura Renewables Acquisitions plc, a LSE main-board listed company focused on the renewable energy supply chain space, and Chair of the Dalgarno Trust, a charity that aims to improve the lives of those living in North Kensington, London.

From 2016 through to 2020, Guy was the Senior Investment Director and Fund Manager of an AIFM authorised and regulated by the FCA. He also has 20 years of investment banking experience at a number of financial institutions including Evercore, Barclays and Citi (1995to2003), where he held director positions in their respective Energy and Infrastructure teams. Guy has been an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (“ICAEW”) since 1993, having qualified with PWC. He resides in the United Kingdom.

Catherine Howarth OBE joined ShareAction as Chief Executive in 2008. She is a member of the Financial Conduct Authority’s advisory committee on ESG and the HM Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce. Previously, she has served on the boards of The Pensions Trust and the Scott Trust, owner of The Guardian Media Group, and was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2014.  

In 2020 she featured on the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE for ‘services to sustainability’.  

ShareAction is an NGO seeking to define and promote the highest standards of responsible investment by working with investors, businesses and individuals on environmental and social issues. 

Laura is the Director, Climate and Environment at the Church of England Pensions Board. She has nearly fifteen years of experience in sustainable finance and investment, including working for Bank Australia and the Suncorp Group. Most recently was the Director of Corporate Engagement for the Investor Group on Climate Change, working with over 100+ institutional investors. She also served on the Global Steering Committee for Climate Action 100+. She is currently the Corporate Programme Co-Chair for the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

Laura holds degrees from the University of Melbourne and Queensland University of Technology and is studying a Master of Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.

Chandra Gopinathan is a senior responsible investment professional with more than two decades of experience across public and private markets in credit structuring and investing, portfolio management, sustainability, stewardship and credit research. Until recently, Chandra was a Senior Investment Manager at Railpen covering external managers, multi-asset credit and energy transition investing, and supporting climate strategy, stewardship, and solutions. Chandra is a member of the Technical Advisory Group at SBTI, has been the chair of the Asset Owner working group at the UK TPT, the co-chair of the bondholder stewardship initiative at IIGCC and has also served on the TPI steering committee. Prior to Railpen, Chandra has worked across the buy and sell side at Rogge/Allianz Global Investors and Morgan Stanley. Chandra has a Master’s degree from Columbia University and a CAIA designation. 

A senior sustainable finance executive, Ms. Barsky has over 20 years of corporate finance and sustainability experience. She is currently the Global Head of Sustainability Strategy and Net Zero for Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to Standard Chartered Bank, Ms. Barsky was the Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Credit Suisse and served as President of Growth for Good, a special purpose acquisition company focused on sustainable companies critical to the decarbonization of the global economy. In her various roles, she has mobilized capital for climate finance and has worked with multiple MDBs on blended finance transactions, sustainable issuances, and the creation of investment products that specifically mobilize capital to address climate change and support the needed transition to a net zero world. She currently serves on the Steering Group for Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and supports the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab.

Ita is the Director of the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC). The Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) is a global coalition of leaders from across the energy landscape committed to achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century, in line with the Paris climate objective of limiting global warming to well below 2°C and ideally to 1.5°C.

Together with the ETC Commissioners, Ita advocates for the technologies, investments and policies required to deliver climate commitments. Ita leads the ETC Secretariat provided by SYSTEMIQ.

She oversees the delivery of the ETC's analytical, international, and communications programmes, whilst also supporting the ETC members.

Prior to this, Ita was a Manager at Bain & Company working with business executives to address strategic challenges in the UK, Europe, and the USA. Ita worked across industrial, consumer products and heavy transport sectors, in addition to advising central government and not-for-profit clients.

Ita worked as a policy advisor at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Ita holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies from Harvard University.

Andrew Mitchell has spent a lifetime at the frontline of tropical forest conservation and is an international thought leader on sustainable finance, climate change, and forests. He is the former Vice Chair of the Stewardship Council of the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures), a global initiative he co-founded with UNDP, WWF, Global Canopy, and UNEP-FI in 2020. He engages with banks, investors, and insurers worldwide on emerging regulations, reporting, and disclosure linked to risks and opportunities in sustainable finance. As Founder and Senior Adviser to Global Canopy, one of the world’s leading providers of ‘data for nature,’ he helped accelerate the understanding of forests and climate within the UNFCCC and pioneered biodiversity disclosure among corporations worldwide. Andrew has set up Equilibrium Futures, a private consultancy advising and educating the financial sector on redirecting global financial flows towards a climate- and nature-positive economy. As a zoologist, Andrew pioneered the scientific exploration of rainforest canopies using aerial walkways and participated in many research expeditions to remote regions of the world. In 2023, he received the Founders Medal from the UK's Royal Geographical Society, a Royal Medal approved by King Charles III. He has appeared on numerous television and media channels, including TEDx.

Ben is the chief executive of London-listed, green-themed investment trust Menhaden Resource Efficiency Plc. 

Ben is co founder and board advisor of Nattergal Ltd, a natural capital company focused on restoring ecosystems at scale.  

Ben founded and chairs Conservation Collective, a growing network of locally-focused environment foundations; and is a Trustee of UK climate foundation the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. 

Ben chairs the UK Conservative Environment Network and was a non-executive director of the U.K. Government's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2018 to 2022.  

Anita McBain is Head of ESG Research and a Managing Director at Citi Research. She joined Citi from M&G Investments, a UK listed asset manager with approximately £350bn AUM. Prior to M&G, Anita led sustainability research for an impact fund focused on mitigating climate change and tackling deforestation via the REDD+ mechanism. Earlier in her career, Anita worked for various buy-side and sell-side investment firms and global banks as a fixed income analyst.

Anita holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Cambridge, an MBA from the University of Edinburgh, and a BSc in Computer Systems from City University London. Anita most recently submitted her Master’s thesis to the University of Cambridge on the integration of biodiversity loss into the investment process. In 2024, Citi was awarded Best Bank for ESG Research by ESG Investing for the fourth time in recognition of Citi Research publications on energy transition and carbon pricing, biodiversity loss and social capital.

Sophie is the Founder and CEO of Kite Insights, as well as the Editorial Advisor of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society and Curator of The New York Times Climate Hub.  

Sophie has two decades of professional services and consulting experience and is a globally recognized thought leader on gender and climate action. Over the years, she has developed global content strategies, produced high profile strategic content, and led the development of research-based insights for leaders across different industry sectors and geographies. At Kite Insights, Sophie and her team help organizations navigate, communicate, and positively impact issue areas relevant to their business as well as our economies and societies at large - focusing on gender, climate, and the ethical application of technology. Most recently, she has founded The Climate School - recognizing the urgent need for companies to accelerate solutions to address climate change and its impact - through tools and resources to unlock climate-focused innovations at every level of the organization.  

Before founding Kite Insights, Sophie was the head of Global Thought Leadership and External Affairs for PwC. Before this, Sophie initiated, established, and led European Business Forum Ltd (EBF) as Executive Director, Member of the Board and Publisher. Sophie is originally from Belgium and lives in London with her husband and two children. 

Bertrand Badré is Managing Partner and Founder of Blue like an Orange. Previously Bertrand was Managing Director of the World Bank and World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer. In this capacity he was finance deputy at the G7/G20 and representative of the World Bank. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Bertrand was the group chief financial officer at Société Générale and Crédit Agricole. Bertrand served as a member of President Jacques Chirac's diplomatic team where he was the President's deputy personal representative for Africa. Bertrand also spent a total of seven years at Lazard, half in New York, and London, and then in Paris as partner where he co-led in particular the restructuring of Eurotunnel. He started his career in Paris as an inspector, then deputy head of the auditing service of the French Ministry of Finance. Bertrand has served as director on a number of boards, including Haulotte Group, , the leading European PE firm Eurazéo, Wealth Simple or a Canadian Fintech in asset management. He has been the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on International Governance, Public-Private Cooperation and Sustainable Development. He is now a board member of Getlink (Eurotunnel) and “gérant” of SIPA Ouest-France. He is a ESG and sustainability senior advisor of JAB (Prêt à Manger, Coty etc.)  

He is a member of the board of IDDRI and IFD (Institut de la Finance Durable set up to represent sustainability in Paris) and of the center of global Development, chaired by Larry Summers and led by Masood Ahmed (CGD). He is the co-chair of Project Syndidate advisory board. Bertrand authored the book “Money Honnie, si la finance sauvait le monde?” published in 2017 under the title “Can Finance Save the World?” translated into multiple languages.  

More recently he wrote the book " Voulons-nous (sérieusement) changer le monde ?", with a preface by Erik Orsenna on finance after COVID and "Des femmes et des hommes, le pouvoir en partage" with Fabienne Michaille and prefaced by Michelle Yeoh, Jean Todt and Emmanuel Faber.  

Bertrand is a graduate of ENA (Ecole Nationale d'Administration), SciencesPo (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris), La Sorbonne and HEC business school.    

Harry Boyd-Carpenter is the Managing Director, Climate Strategy and Delivery at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He took up this role in April 2021. 

Mr Boyd-Carpenter is responsible for coordinating the EBRD’s work across the green economy and climate agendas, with the overall goal of meeting the Bank’s commitment to achieve a green finance  
ratio of at least 50 per cent of annual investment by 2025. He leads a group that drives climate and green financing, policy and analysis across all economic sectors and financing instruments, as well as  
representing the EBRD in climate and sustainable finance forums. 

Mr Boyd-Carpenter is a British national and joined the EBRD in 2005 in the Office of the General Counsel. In 2008 he transferred to the then Power and Energy Utilities team in Banking, before becoming Director, Head of Energy EMEA in 2017 where he led the Bank’s investment activities in the energy sector in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. 

Before joining the EBRD Mr Boyd-Carpenter was an Associate in the project finance team at Allen and Overy LLP and also worked for the European Agency for Reconstruction in Pristina. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford 

Kingsmill Bond, CFA is an energy strategist for RMI. He has worked as a financial market analyst and strategist for over 25 years, including for Deutsche Bank, Sberbank and Citibank in London, Hong Kong and Moscow.

He believes that the renewable revolution is the most important driver of financial markets and geopolitics in the modern era. He joined RMI from Carbon Tracker in 2022 to write analysis on the impact of the energy transition on financial markets, with a focus on the exponential growth of renewables and the peaking of fossil fuel demand.

Nijhad Jamal is the Managing Partner of Equator, a climate-tech VC investing in early-stage ventures in Energy, Agriculture and Mobility that are addressing some of Sub-Saharan Africa’s greatest climate and income inequality challenges. 

Previously, as the founder of Moja Capital and in his prior roles at BlackRock and Acumen Fund, he has invested in or operated businesses across the clean energy, agriculture, mobility, fintech, and retail sectors. He began his career at UBS Investment Bank and later left to help launch the boutique M&A advisory and growth equity firm Centerview Partners. 

Nijhad holds a BSc. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Amar works with businesses and entrepreneurs to imagine, create and grow markets that address our biggest social and environmental challenges. He brings a lifetime commitment to sustainable development. He is a fund manager and board member with experience of investing and advising portfolios of fast-growing and high-impact companies. He leads KawiSafi Ventures – a private investment fund created by Acumen – that is focused on accelerating a just climate transition. Prior to leading KawiSafi, he managed a global investment portfolio of high-risk, high-impact projects for 10 years at the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank before joining the new business team at Royal Dutch Shell to drive growth in domestic African energy markets. He graduated from the University of Oxford and has a PhD from the University of Cambridge. A TED speaker with 1.7M views, his work on sustainable investing has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, and FastCompany.

Sara Stefanini is EMEA Climate Policy Editor based in London. She has 15 years’ experience in journalism, mostly covering energy, climate change, and environmental news. Prior to joining Carbon Pulse, she worked for four years as a strategic communications advisor for climate action and clean air campaigns, writing and advising on narratives, writing speeches, and op-eds, also working with media. 

Before that, Sara worked as a journalist, including as senior energy and climate policy reporter at Politico Europe in Brussels, senior reporter at Climate Home, freelance reporter for the Financial Times’ special reports, and markets reporter at ICIS. 

Greg is a Director in Deloitte’s UK Sustainability practice, and leads the firm’s sustainability work with insurance clients across the value chain. He brings over 15 years of sustainability experience in insurance and financial services, with a particular focus on strategy, innovation, risk, regulation, and reporting. Greg was Managing Committee chair of ClimateWise and on the Board of the UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance. Prior to joining Deloitte in January 2021, he was Global Head of Resilience and Sustainability at Aon, having started his career in investment banking. Greg holds an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Tom Merriman is the Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Kita, the carbon insurance specialist. Kita’s purpose is accelerating investment in high quality carbon sequestration projects through the provision of insurance that reduces transaction risk and safeguards the performance of carbon credit investments. Prior to founding Kita, Tom spent 15 years in capital markets working for the financial technology companies Bloomberg and Nasdaq. During this time, Tom also completed three master's degrees: Finance (Cranfield), Information Systems (LSE), and Climate Change (Birkbeck).