President
Dr. Manuj Bhardwaj
Dr. Bhardwaj is an international climate law and policy specialist, and carbon markets expert with nearly a decade of global experience at the intersection of trade, sustainability and regulatory governance. He is also a former international civil servant.
Dr. Bhardwaj’s expertise spans emissions trading systems (ETS), carbon finance, Article 6 market mechanisms under the Paris Agreement, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAM), ESG compliance frameworks and the legal architecture of climate-aligned trade. He has deep experience advising on carbon transactions, including Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreements (ERPAs), voluntary carbon markets and legal risk management in environmental commodities. His work closely tracks the development of India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), the EU ETS and the implications of carbon-linked trade measures for developing economies.
He has worked with and advised leading intergovernmental and multilateral institutions, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, World Bank Group, the Commonwealth Secretariat, Government of India and the British Parliament. His most recent international assignment was with the World Trade Organization in Geneva, where he worked at the nexus of trade, climate and sustainability. He is also the only lawyer (till date) to have been awarded the prestigious doctoral scholarship of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He was a Founding Faculty Member and Head of ESG, Carbon Markets, Sustainability and Trade Verticals at Dhirubhai Ambani University School of Law.
Across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, Dr. Bhardwaj has advised sovereign governments, development finance institutions, private equity funds, oil and energy companies, international banks, sovereign funds and multinational corporations on low-carbon growth strategies, climate finance structuring, impact investment, and sustainable regulatory design.
Academically, he holds a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D./Ph.D.) in International Trade, Environment and Climate Law from American University Washington College of Law (Washington, D.C.), along with dual master’s degrees in Public Policy and Human Development with a specialization in International Trade and Climate Policy from the United Nations University and Maastricht University (The Netherlands).
He is actively contributing to the development of credible and internationally aligned carbon markets in India, aimed at strengthening domestic carbon pricing mechanisms and enhancing competitiveness in the face of emerging trade-related climate measures, including the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the recently announced UK CBAM, and other forthcoming border carbon measures under consideration by several Western economies.
He serves as the President of the Emissions Trading Association of India (ETAI), where he leads institutional strategy, international engagement and policy development for India’s evolving carbon market ecosystem. As President of ETAI, Dr. Bhardwaj is focused on institutionalizing emissions trading in India, strengthening compliance and voluntary carbon market integrity, fostering Article 6-aligned international cooperation, and positioning India within global carbon finance and climate governance frameworks. His leadership integrates legal scholarship, market design, and international diplomacy to advance robust, credible, and globally connected carbon markets.