Guneet Banga : Catalyzing Change Across Finance, Tech & Climate
Guneet Banga
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
From Hong Kong’s financial center to India’s fast emerging climate-tech ecosystem, Guneet is forging a path for values-driven leadership. At Parinama Group, he blends tradition, innovation, and impact—building bridges between global capital and local solutions to tackle urgent climate challenges and inspire bold, collaborative action.
How does the legacy of Indian leadership in Hong Kong influence your vision for Parinama Group?
Hong Kong’s Indian community has always stood for entrepreneurship and civic engagement. That legacy guides us. At Parinama, we’re channeling that spirit into climate innovation with India as our starting point.
Our three divisions - Venture Builder, Strategic Advisory, and Ecosystem Builder, work together to accelerate solutions that begin in India but have global implications. We see ourselves as conveners and catalysts, turning vision into investable, scalable climate action.
In 2023, you were honored as a “Global Visionary – Impact and Sustainability Icon”. Tell us about your background.
My career spans finance, technology, and sustainability. I hold an MBA from Wharton, a BA from Princeton, and certifications in ESG and impact investing.
Equally important, each learning experience— formal and informal—has shaped my values. Working across markets and sectors has reinforced my belief that business must be both analytically rigorous and deeply responsible. That conviction now fuels my commitment to climate innovation and to building institutions that can endure and adapt.
What is Parinama Group’s vision, and why focus on
India?
We envision India as a global hub for sustainability innovation. It is a critical proving ground: the world’s third-largest emitter, one of the fastest-growing major economies, and home to exceptional engineering talent and a thriving startup ecosystem. India can design and deploy cost-effective green technologies at scale—and then export them to the world.
Our three divisions operate in synergy with a clear mandate: Invest in high-potential climate solutions, Convene stake holders in new, collaborative ways and Support startups that deliver tangible, real world impact.
Humanity needs to pivot 180 degrees from the Industrial Revolution model within the next two decades. Incremental change will not get us to Net Zero. What’s required is rapid, systemic transformation.
Addressing climate change in India is a global imperative. India’s Net Zero 2070 target will require roughly $1 trillion per year in climate-tech investment. No single pool of capital can meet that need.
Parinama’s role is to attract foreign capital and blend public, private, and philanthropic funds to close the gap—creating an ecosystem where investors, corporates, governments, and civil society operate from a shared playbook. It’s about breaking silos and aligning incentives.
India’s Net Zero goal is ambitious. What are the main obstacles, and how is Parinama addressing them?
First, policy and regulatory uncertainty hold back capital.Investors need credible, long-term signals: consistent carbon pricing, clear renewable mandates robust transparency, and strong governance. Without that, scaling investment is difficult.
Second, new financing models are essential. Many high-impact solutions — especially adaptation, resilience, and community-scale projects—don’t match traditional risk-return expectations. Blended finance allows concessional capital to absorb early-stage risk and crowd in commercial investors, while aligning on longer time horizons and social outcomes.
Third, there is still a gap between climate science and corporate strategy. The “tragedy of the horizon” means long-term climate risks are discounted in short term planning. Our advisory arm helps companies embed climate innovation into core business strategy, bridging science, policy, and operations.
We envision India as a global hub for sustainability innovation. It is a critical proving ground: the world’s third-largest emitter, one of the fastest-growing major economies, and home to exceptional engineering talent and a thriving startup ecosystem. India can design and deploy cost-effective green technologies at scale—and then export them to the world.
Our three divisions operate in synergy with a clear mandate: Invest in high-potential climate solutions, Convene stake holders in new, collaborative ways and Support startups that deliver tangible, real world impact.
We see ourselves as conveners and catalysts, turning vision into investable, scalable climate action
Humanity needs to pivot 180 degrees from the Industrial Revolution model within the next two decades. Incremental change will not get us to Net Zero. What’s required is rapid, systemic transformation.
Addressing climate change in India is a global imperative. India’s Net Zero 2070 target will require roughly $1 trillion per year in climate-tech investment. No single pool of capital can meet that need.
Parinama’s role is to attract foreign capital and blend public, private, and philanthropic funds to close the gap—creating an ecosystem where investors, corporates, governments, and civil society operate from a shared playbook. It’s about breaking silos and aligning incentives.
India’s Net Zero goal is ambitious. What are the main obstacles, and how is Parinama addressing them?
First, policy and regulatory uncertainty hold back capital.Investors need credible, long-term signals: consistent carbon pricing, clear renewable mandates robust transparency, and strong governance. Without that, scaling investment is difficult.
Second, new financing models are essential. Many high-impact solutions — especially adaptation, resilience, and community-scale projects—don’t match traditional risk-return expectations. Blended finance allows concessional capital to absorb early-stage risk and crowd in commercial investors, while aligning on longer time horizons and social outcomes.
Third, there is still a gap between climate science and corporate strategy. The “tragedy of the horizon” means long-term climate risks are discounted in short term planning. Our advisory arm helps companies embed climate innovation into core business strategy, bridging science, policy, and operations.
Finally human capital and public awareness are crucial. Technology alone is not enough; people must adopt and trust it. We support green-skills training and community education on solutions such as EVs and clean cooking, building the social license for change.
These hurdles - policy gaps, conservative finance norms, planning disconnects, and cultural inertia, are real but solvable. Our job is to de-risk action, one obstacle at a time. The greatest risk is inaction.
What advice do you have for aspiring leaders in climate and sustainability?
Lead with both heart and mind. Anchor your self in empathy and integrity, but insist on analytical rigor. Embrace complexity and systems thinking; stay grounded in science and focused on outcomes for people and planet.
Don’t do it alone. Build diverse teams, join networks, and seek mentors whose integrity, curiosity, and ethical compass you admire.
Redefine success. Move beyond profit as the sole metric to include gigatons of emissions avoided, lives improved, and ecosystems preserved. When you lead with your values, the right investors, partners, and customers will gravitate toward you.
And never lose sight of the stakes. Humanity’s long-term viability is genuinely at risk, yet many still choose to look away. If we plan for the worst plausible outcome and fall short, we will almost certainly still meet—or exceed—our Net Zero goals.
What are your plans to help shape the future?
At Parinama, we are clear-eyed about the challenge: the outcome of the fight against climate change is effectively binary - either we all win, or we all lose. Climate change does not recognize borders, balance sheets, or social status. That urgency compels us to champion inclusive, collabo -rative action.
If you are an investor, entrepreneur, policymaker, or change maker committed to climate innovation, we invite you to partner with us.Together we can scale transformative technologies, build resilient communities, and secure a sustainable, thriving future. The time for bold action is now.
Guneet Banga, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Parinama Group
Guneet Banga is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Parinama Group. He leads climate technology investments at the intersection of finance, sustainability, and innovation—driving practical solutions to the climate crisis while helping to shape a new standard for responsible business leadership globally.
These hurdles - policy gaps, conservative finance norms, planning disconnects, and cultural inertia, are real but solvable. Our job is to de-risk action, one obstacle at a time. The greatest risk is inaction.
What advice do you have for aspiring leaders in climate and sustainability?
Lead with both heart and mind. Anchor your self in empathy and integrity, but insist on analytical rigor. Embrace complexity and systems thinking; stay grounded in science and focused on outcomes for people and planet.
Don’t do it alone. Build diverse teams, join networks, and seek mentors whose integrity, curiosity, and ethical compass you admire.
Redefine success. Move beyond profit as the sole metric to include gigatons of emissions avoided, lives improved, and ecosystems preserved. When you lead with your values, the right investors, partners, and customers will gravitate toward you.
And never lose sight of the stakes. Humanity’s long-term viability is genuinely at risk, yet many still choose to look away. If we plan for the worst plausible outcome and fall short, we will almost certainly still meet—or exceed—our Net Zero goals.
What are your plans to help shape the future?
At Parinama, we are clear-eyed about the challenge: the outcome of the fight against climate change is effectively binary - either we all win, or we all lose. Climate change does not recognize borders, balance sheets, or social status. That urgency compels us to champion inclusive, collabo -rative action.
If you are an investor, entrepreneur, policymaker, or change maker committed to climate innovation, we invite you to partner with us.Together we can scale transformative technologies, build resilient communities, and secure a sustainable, thriving future. The time for bold action is now.
Guneet Banga, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Parinama Group
Guneet Banga is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Parinama Group. He leads climate technology investments at the intersection of finance, sustainability, and innovation—driving practical solutions to the climate crisis while helping to shape a new standard for responsible business leadership globally.