Paresh Patel

Equitable Energy Ventures

Founder & Chief Executive Officer; Climate Bonds Initiative Advisory Panel Member

Paresh is the Founder & CEO of Equitable Energy Ventures, LLC where he advises and develops cleantech start-ups and energy transition platforms focused on ending energy poverty and advancing the net-zero transition to a sustainable energy future. Paresh is a Founding Member of Greentown Labs Houston, the largest cleantech and climatetech incubator in North America. He is currently developing a multi-stakeholder cause-marketing campaign, e^2=equitable energy, to solve for scope 3 “tailpipe” emissions with carbon offsets that finance access to sustainable energy solutions, including clean cooking and microgrids in off-grid frontier markets. The business model delivers shared value and equity for partnering energy Companies, Consumers, Conservationists, and Climate Advocates – thus delivering the “Square Energy Deal” for all. In addition, he is Co-founder of InnoGrid.org, which is developing Houston’s first community microgrid and distributed energy technologies testbed and was selected for The Ion Smart & Resilient Cities Accelerator. In support of Houston’s energy transition, he conceptualized and is championing efforts to position Houston as a leading Sustainable & Energy Transition Finance Hub, which includes forming a regional green bank; launching a Houston carbon exchange; and establishing the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) center for transition finance innovation. Paresh has engaged C-level energy industry executives and government leaders to elevate and mainstream the issue of universal access to sustainable energy (SDG 7) on the global developmental agenda. He has provided contributed to and participated in various stakeholder fora, such as the UN Energy and High-Level Dialogue on Energy; IEA Global Commission for People-Centered Clean Energy Transitions; CERAWeek; World Bank Energy Strategy Consultation; World Energy Council; World Petroleum Congress; Shell Sustainable Energy Forum; UN Foundation; Social Good Summit; Global Citizen; and Bono’s ONE campaign. As a member of the City of Houston Climate Action Plan Implementation Working Groups (Energy Transitions, Equity, and Transportation), Paresh marshaled Houston’s participation in the WEF-led Trillion Trees campaign, 1t.org. Paresh serves on the Asia Society Asia 21 Next Generation Leaders Fellowship Board of Advisors; the CBI Advisory Panel; and as an EVolve Houston Community Champion. He is a member of the Asia Society Texas Center; the Houston Committee on Foreign; and the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. Previously, he served on the Mayor’s International Trade & Development Advisory Board; the Advisory Board for the Roundtable YP (Chair of the Energy Subcommittee) at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University; the Texas Board of the American India Foundation. Before transitioning to his current endeavors in energy transition, innovation, and entrepreneurship, Paresh worked in Credit Risk Management and Underwriting at JPMorgan Chase & Co., including financing start-ups and supporting the JPM-Brookings Global Cities Initiative. Before that, he founded INDUS Partners, a policy, government relations, and international trade and business consultancy focused on Asia-Pacific markets.Earlier, he served as Regional Director for Asia-Pacific during President George W. Bush’s governorship and for his 2000 presidential campaign where he advised on foreign policy, including seminal efforts that led to forging a new US-India strategic partnership. In September 2000, he became the first Texas official to visit Vietnam since the normalization of relations. To mark that milestone, he proposed and drafted the first-ever state-level trade promotion agreement between Vietnam and Texas. Paresh has been selected as an Asia Society Asia 21 Next Generation Leaders Fellow; a CERAWeek and WEC Future Energy Leader and a participant to World Economic Forum Meetings. He holds a B.A. (Honors) from the University of Pennsylvania in Economics and South Asia Studies.