Leena Srivastava

Leena Srivastava is a globally recognized authority in energy economics, climate policy and sustainable development. With over four decades at the intersection of science, policy and education, Srivastava has consistently championed data-informed policy choices and scientific advancement.  

Srivastava significantly contributed towards building one of the largest and best-known energy, climate and sustainability research institutions in India, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). After successive leadership positions within TERI, she led the TERI School of Advanced Studies – India’s only sustainability-focused research university – as its vice chancellor. She subsequently served as deputy director general (science) at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

Srivastava has contributed her expertise to a range of other institutions to advance the understanding of, and responses to, climate and sustainability challenges. She co-chaired the UN Secretary-General’s Science Advisory Group for the 2019 Climate Action Summit. She served on the Government of India’s expert committee to formulate energy policy. And she has been an advisor to the World Economic Forum and the Asian Development Bank. She was an independent board member of large Indian corporates and a member of sustainability advisory bodies of relevant multi-national organizations.

Srivastava was a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Third Assessment Report and contributed to the Fourth. She holds a PhD in Energy Economics from the Indian Institute of Science and an MA in Economics from Osmania University. In 2008, she was named a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms by the French Republic.