Dipal Chandra Barua is the Founder and Chairman of the Bright Green Energy Foundation (BGEF) and a renowned pioneer in renewable energy in Bangladesh. With over 30 years of experience in social entrepreneurship and pro-poor financial modelling, he is a Co-Founder and former Deputy Managing Director of Grameen Bank, where he played a central role in its inception and the design of “Grameen II”. As the Founding Managing Director of Grameen Shakti, he designed the innovative monthly instalment-based financial model that made Solar Home Systems affordable for rural populations at the cost of Kerosene, leading to the installation of over 6.5 million systems across Bangladesh, the largest solar program in the world. A global leader in the energy transition, Mr. Barua serves as a Councillor of the World Future Council (WFC) and an Ambassador for the Global 100% RE campaign. He was the first-ever winner of the Zayed Sustainability Prize in 2009 and has received numerous international accolades, including the Ashden Award, the Right Livelihood Award, and the European Solar Prize. He has contributed his expertise to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the IPCC as a Lead Author on Financing and Investment. Currently, he is spearheading advanced Agrivoltaics research in collaboration with BRAC University and the H&M Foundation, pursuing a vision to transform Bangladesh into the world’s first “Solar Nation” by 2050.