Biography

Professor Shobhakar Dhakal is a Professor of the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate and former Vice President of Academic Affairs (1 April 2021 to 31 August 2023) of the Asian Institute of Technology. Prof. Dhakal served, previously, also as the Dean of AIT’s School of Environment, Resources and Development, and as the Head of Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change. His teaching, research and international activities comprise of energy policy, climate policy, low carbon and climate resilient cities, energy system analysis and modelling, and accounting of carbon emissions and mitigation scenarios and opportunities. He is particularly passionate about:

• Providing better access to modern and clean energy, and efficiently, in urban and rural areas of the developing countries in South and South-East Asia capitalizing on the tremendous potentials of the renewable energy technologies, declining cost of renewables and the climate polices as a new vehicle;
• Addressing energy and climate mitigation solutions through innovative policies, regulations, market (incl carbon market), and financial mechanisms (incl climate financing) at the multiple scales
• Promoting cross-border and regional electricity trade/market for a better integration in South Asia and South-East Asia in the context of ASEAN, SAARC, BBIN, and BIMSTEC which intersects issues such as improved energy access, climate change mitigation, energy security and scaling up the renewable energy in the region
• Finding synergies and understanding trade-offs of climate and energy goals with other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 2030 into the perspective
• Understanding the options and opportunities for climate smart cities which are low-energy, low-carbon and climate resilient in the context of rapid economic transformation, urbanization, Paris Climate Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals and the new Urban Agenda