Shirish has over 20 years of experience in the development of policy making and project/programme implementation in the field of energy, climate change and sustainable development policy. Prior to joining CIFF, Shirish worked with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in India as Deputy Head of Cooperation, where he led on the delivery of bilateral cooperation programmes on climate science and climate resilient development in the Himalayas. He also supported management of SDC India’s overall programme portfolio under Global Programme Climate Change & Environment and the development of new programme strategies on clean air and solar power for irrigation.

Before SDC, Shirish was the Head of Climate & Energy Programme at the World Wide Fund for Nature – India (WWF India). Prior to this, Shirish worked at Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) India as the Principal Consultant and was responsible for rural electrification and renewable energy policy and regulatory advisory.

Shirish holds a PhD in Public Policy (Energy Policy) from the University of Twente, the Netherlands and Masters in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) in India. He has authored/co-authored five books on energy and development; and published papers and articles based on his research. In 2012, Shirish published his book In Pursuit of a Light Bulb and a Smokeless Kitchen, a longitudinal analysis on the role of energy sector policies in alleviating energy poverty in India.