“Amid competing visions for energy supply, technological leadership, and domestic clean-energy growth, I look at what could emerging economies produce, trade, and pursue together in the global energy transition.”
- Professor Easwaran J. Narassimhan
For Easwaran J. Narassimhan, F15, FG21, Assistant Professor of Climate and Energy Policy and Co-Director of the Climate Policy Lab, this question sits at the heart of one of the most important global challenges of our time: how to build a low-carbon future without sacrificing economic opportunity. His research explores how countries, particularly emerging economies, can pursue climate action while creating jobs, strengthening industries, and maintaining economic growth. It is work that bridges climate policy, international trade, political economy, and global development, exemplifying the kind of interdisciplinary scholarship that makes Fletcher a leader in addressing complex international issues.
Professor Narassimhan’s work focuses on “greening” economic growth models and building political coalitions that can sustain ambitious climate action. Rather than viewing the clean energy transition solely through an environmental lens, he examines how governments can create new economic opportunities by onshoring the manufacturing of clean energy technologies and generating quality jobs during periods of economic change. As nations race to develop domestic clean energy industries, he studies the policies that can help countries remain competitive while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.
His perspective is grounded in both scholarship and practice. Before joining Fletcher, Narassimhan helped establish the Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC), a climate and sustainability-focused think tank in India. What began as an effort to advance research and policy solutions around clean energy manufacturing and workforce development has grown into a thriving, well-funded organization of 40 members. Today, the organization continues to shape discussions around how countries can successfully navigate energy transitions while expanding economic opportunity.
Fletcher’s interdisciplinary approach and broad reach was attractive to Professor Narassimhan to further his work in this area. His research examines comparative advantage in international trade, with particular attention to how emerging economies can position themselves within evolving clean energy supply chains. He is also exploring a critical global question: what happens when every nation seeks to manufacture clean energy technologies domestically? While such efforts can strengthen local economies, fragmented manufacturing systems can also increase costs, reduce the sharing of knowledge and expertise, and ultimately slow the world's transition to cleaner energy.
This global perspective is what makes Narassimhan’s work so valuable. He is not simply asking how one country can succeed, but how nations can collaborate and prosper together in a rapidly changing energy landscape. By tackling questions of energy supply, technological leadership, industrial policy, and international cooperation, he is helping policymakers better understand how to build a cleaner and more economically resilient future.
Professor Narassimhan represents the very best of the school’s mission: a scholar—and alum—whose research is academically rigorous and deeply focused on solving real-world problems. His work demonstrates how Fletcher faculty are shaping conversations that extend far beyond the classroom, influencing how countries around the world approach climate action, economic development, and the future of global prosperity, and support from alumni and friends to Fletcher makes his work possible.