Namita Vikas

Namita Vikas is a senior business leader with 30 years of diverse global experience in climate change strategy and sustainability across sectors including Banking, Technology & FMCG, with particular focus on Sustainable Finance, ESG Risk Management, Climate Action, Disclosures & Metrics, Design Thinking & Innovation, Public Policy & Corporate Citizenship.

Namita was ranked one of the “Leading Women in Business Sustainability” by the prestigious WBCSD and was globally recognized as “Sustainability Leader of the Year” by Ethical Corporation, UK in 2017. In 2018, she was named one of “Asia’s Top Sustainability Superwomen” by CSRWorks International and among “India’s Top 100 Women in Finance” by AIWMI in 2019.

She also has a strong track record of mainstreaming sustainability, ESG & responsible investing. In 2012, at YES BANK, a large Indian private bank, she set up Responsible Banking, a first-of-its-kind in the emerging market and recognised worldwide by regulators, governments, financial institutions & multilateral bodies. At YES, she launched several green & sustainable wholesale & retail products & raised over USD 1 billion capital & credit lines towards green finance. Under her able guidance, the bank issued India’s first Green Bond & was the only private entity to be nominated as “National Implementing Agency” for Green Climate Fund (GCF) by India’s Ministry of Finance and got accredited by GCF in 2019.

Namita is a certified independent director and prominent speaker at influential global platforms such as UN General Assembly, UN Climate Summit, Economist’s Ocean Summit & G20, among others. She has also been elected as Chairperson of UN NCFA, as member of Global Steering Committee of UNEP FI for 3 terms & Steering Group of UNEP FI Positive Impact Initiative. She was one of the architects of UN Principles for Responsible Banking, launched in 2019. Namita also served on the advisory councils/boards of We Mean Business, ICMA’s Green Bond Principles & Social Bond Principles Executive Committee, Black Jaguar Foundation’s Green Capital Study & YES FOUNDATION. She is an active member of key councils & committees such as BIS, IMC, BCCI & MIT-WPU. In 2020, she also joined the advisory council of WOTR.

She has served in management positions with YES BANK, Marico, Microsoft Corporation & the CII and been on the jury of several national & international awards.

Namita is an alumna of the THNK School of Creative Leadership in the Netherlands, Columbia Business School, Svenska Institutet in Sweden & Mumbai University.