Neeshad Shafi

Neeshad is an environmentalist, speaker, and policy-oriented social change advocate, best known for his work on environmental and climate change education, advocacy, and policy in the Gulf region. His core areas of expertise include global environmental politics, sustainability, and climate policies. An active civil society member from the Gulf, he has been a prominent presence at international climate summits, especially UNFCCC’S climate summits since 2015 in various capacities. In March 2019, he was named in the Apolitical’s List of the 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy 2019. 

Neeshad is currently the Co-founder & Executive Director at the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar, a registered, independent, non-profit environmental association in Qatar. He is a Board Member at Climate Action Network (CAN) Arab World and CoalitionWILD. He is on the steering committee of UNESCO Youth Climate Action Network (YoU-CAN) and is a UNEP Youth Regional Facilitator for the Middle East. He is also a Global Shaper and agenda contributor with the World Economic Forum, as well as a TEDx speaker. 

His articles and interviews on various topic related to climate change impacts in the Middle East, decarbonization in the Gulf, energy transition, sustainability, and role of youth and civil society for climate action have appeared in Al Jazeera, BBC, France24, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Wired Italia, Anadolu Agency, The Gulf Times, Qatar Tribune, Qatar Today, Peninsula Qatar, and others. 

Neeshad holds a bachelor’s degree in bio-engineering and master’s degree in energy and environmental engineering.