Speakers

Justine Leigh-Bell is CEO of the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute. Justine sets AFII’s strategic direction, oversees its research agenda, and works with asset owners and fund managers to integrate climate and nature factors into fixed income portfolio construction and risk management.  

With more than 15 years at the forefront of sustainable fixed income and climate policy, Justine is widely recognised for her insights on how bond markets can support real economy decarbonisation, sovereign and sub-sovereign climate finance, and the development of transition-aligned credit frameworks. At AFII, she leads initiatives that turn advanced research and market analysis into practical tools, investor guidance, and engagement strategies, ensuring that climate and nature considerations are reflected in day-to-day capital allocation decisions. 

Prior to AFII, Justine served as Deputy CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, where she built and led a global team of more than 80 professionals across Europe, China, India, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. During this time, she advised governments on the design and implementation of sovereign green bond programmes aligned with national climate policies, helping to establish frameworks that have underpinned the growth of labelled bond markets worldwide. 

Justine has a proven track record in designing, scaling, and governing market-focused organisations that deliver measurable climate impact, from early-stage concepts through to global implementation. Alongside her executive responsibilities, she serves as an advisor to climate-focused initiatives, most recently supporting the Blue Bond Accelerator under the Ocean Risk Alliance, ORRAA, where she contributes to innovative financing structures that channel capital into ocean and coastal resilience. 

She holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London and completed postgraduate studies in molecular genomics at Yale. This blend of scientific training, industry experience, and executive leadership positions Justine as a trusted partner for investors and stakeholders seeking to use fixed income markets to address climate change and nature loss.