Shiv Someshwar

Dr. Shiv Someshwar is research faculty at Columbia University, New York, since 2001. At the Earth Institute, he is also Director, Climate Policy at the Center for Sustainable Development, and Senior Advisor, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). An expert in climate and sustainable development policy, Dr. Someshwar has led numerous multidisciplinary efforts on building resilience to climate risks in developing countries, particularly in Asia.  He advises governments on identifying and implementing climate and sustainable development action priorities. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Arghyam, an Indian philanthropy in the areas of groundwater and sanitation. Dr. Someshwar helped develop Columbia University''s graduate program on Climate and Society, and is Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs. Previously, he was at the Rockefeller Foundation.

Dr. Someshwar''s recent publications include “Realizing Sustainable Development Goals: The prescience of John Friedmann” (In Insurgencies and Revolutions: Reflections on John Friedmann’s contributions to planning           theory and practice, edited by H. Rangan et al. Routledge, 2016); “Towards Anticipatory Management of Peat Fires to Enhance Local Resilience and Reduce Natural Capital Depletion” (with J. Kieft, T, Smith and R. Boer, in Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation in Practice, edited by F. G. Renaud et al, Springer International, 2016); “Green Growth and Equity in the Context of Climate Change” (with J. Sachs in Managing the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy: Perspectives, Policies, and Practices from Asia, edited by V. Anbumozhi et al. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute, 2015); "Managing peatland fires in Kalimantan: Risks, scientific interventions and policy impacts" (with R. Boer and E. Conrad), and "Decision making for climate risk adaptation: some considerations", both in World Resources Report 2010-2011; "Review of adaptation policies and financing in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Region", for Fighting for Survival: The Vulnerability of America''s Gulf Coast and the Caribbean Basin, New Orleans, 2010; "Use of seasonal climate forecasts within a shared reservoir system" (with C. Brown, E. Conrad, A. Sankarsubramaniam and D. Elazegui), in Climate Change Adaptation in the Water Sector (edited by F. Ludwig, P. Kabat. H. van Schaik and M. van der Valk), London: Earthscan, 2009; Policies, Institutions and Climate Risk Management in the Philippines (with D. Elazegui, M. J. Rabang, A.C. Rola, and E. Conrad), University of the Philippines Los Baños, Phillipines, 2009; and "Adaptation to Climate Change: Re-examining climate and development risks", for the UN World Economic and Social Survey, 2009. Currently he is editing Re-living the memories of an Indian forester: Memoirs of S. Shyam Sunder (2018).

Dr. Someshwar received his Ph.D. in urban planning (with a focus on the environment) from the University of California, Los Angeles, and was a Bell MacArthur fellow at Harvard University.

Education

• PhD in Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles