Regional Vice Chair, South & East Asia
Dr. Ritu Dhingra is the Regional Vice Chair, East and Southern Asia- IUCN CEESP (International Union for Conservation of Nature -Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy) She is looking after the themes of IUCN CEESP in 23 countries of this region. She is also member of IUCN five commissions IUCN World Commission on Environmental law (WCEL), Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM). She is also a member of European Environmental Law Forum (EELF) and Bar Council of Delhi. Ritu Dhingra has over three decades of experience in research related to environmental law, botany, biodiversity, forests, sustainable development, Indian traditions and environmental conservation. She holds a lawyer’s license from Bar Council of Delhi. She has authored three books as a trilogy on environmental jurisprudence, floral biodiversity and Indian traditions and environmental conservation consecutively, her fourth book is under publication. She has authored many papers on environmental law, ecofeminism, forest conservation, smart cities, sustainable development, climate change, climate refugees, environmental defenders, loss of biodiversity, traditional knowledge systems, conservation of biodiversity, green energy, customary laws and environmental conservation, Dr. Ritu holds a PHD in Environmental laws from The NorthCap University Gurugram, Haryana, India with topic Sustainable Development and Laws Relating to Biodiversity and Forest Conservation: An Analytical Study in Indian Perspective. She also has a Bachelor honours degree in botany from Kirori Mal college, University of Delhi, India, bachelor’s degree in law from Campus law Centre, university of Delhi, India, Post Graduate diploma in Environmental Law and Policy from National Law University Delhi and WWF Delhi master’s degree in law from Kurukshetra University, India, master’s degree in sociology from Meerut University, Meerut, India, , Post Graduate diploma in Ecology and Environment from IIEE Delhi. She has a certificate in Spanish language from Cervantes, Delhi. She had been a practicing lawyer in the High Court of Delhi and Supreme Court of India. She is an environmental law and policy consultant at a legal firm in Delhi. She has drafted and taught courses on law at few universities in Delhi NCR region like Campus law Centre University of Delhi and at NorthCap University Gurgaon. She has presented papers on environmental law at many international conferences. She has been awarded scholarships for summer schools and workshops on environmental law by universities like Hasselt University Belgium and Wuhan University, China.

Deputy Regional Vice Chair, South & East Asia
Dr. Ms. Swayamprabha Das has a Ph.D from Jawaharlal Nehru University, in international relations with a focus on international environmental policy, and her thesis titled- “Environmental Diplomacy and International Co-operation: Case Study of Antarctic Treaty System”.
Dr. Das is a Hubert Humphrey Fellow and was based with University of California, Davis, CA, USA. Her focus was on marine conservation, especially on designation the Marine Protected Areas. During this period, she was professional affiliated with IUCN Multi-lateral office at Washington DC and attended meetings of ‘Ad Hoc Committee on High Seas’ at UN HQ, New York in 2008.
Dr Das has a progressive work experience of 22 years in the development and environment sector, with a focus on policy, programme management and communications. During her work with WWF India’s marine programme (2003-07), she worked on several programmes (marine turtles, Marine protected areas, marine fisheries certification, etc.) and oceans policies (UNCLOS, Antarctic Treaty and Southern Oceans, Coastal Zone Regulations, etc.); contributed chapter to the Environmental Law Handbook, Govt of India and taught marine policies at WWF India’s Environmental Law Centre. Further-on (2008-09) she worked with Sierra Club and anchored the ‘Climate Change Leaders programme in the Himalayas’ with LEAD India. Thereafter, she served as Coordinator with the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change, Govt of India and focused on UNCCD matters (Sustainable Land & Ecosystems management- GEF 4 and the 4th National Report to UNCCD). Two major highlights of her work are- assisting MoEF & CC on the ‘Science Express- Biodiversity Special’ (2012) and launch programme for the International Polar Year (2007) with WWF-India and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India.
In her recent assignments that focused more on social development, she has been instrumental in promoting environment and Green Growth into Human Development context (with NITI Aayog, Govt of India), and in her present assignment she has been developing on Green Jobs and Water Governance with UNDP.