Niki Mardas is the Executive Director of Global Canopy and has led the organisation since 2016. A thought leader in the environmental space, he’s spent over twenty years focusing on deforestation and nature, collaborating with leaders in government, business and finance to create positive change. Under his leadership, Global Canopy has rapidly expanded and sharpened its strategic focus on the market forces destroying nature, with a special focus on the finance sector. It has developed and launched major and market-defining data-driven initiatives – including Forest 500, Forest IQ, Trase, ENCORE and the rapidly-growing Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) for which he serves as a member of the governance council.

In 2006, Niki jointly coordinated a water-borne international symposium that took over 200 politicians, scientists and faith leaders into the heart of the Amazon. Before that, he worked in technology and co-founded Upstream, one of Europe’s largest mobile solutions and marketing companies.

Niki grew up between London and Athens, and holds a first class degree from Cambridge University, and an MSc from the London School of Economics. He lives in Oxford with his family, and is a member of the Greek and Balkan vocal ensemble Nostos.