Delhi-based adaptation expert and former IFRC volunteer is new Climate Centre director

By the Climate Centre

The IFRC and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre today announced that Dr Aditya V. Bahadur will take over as the centre’s new director on 1 May, joining from its partner organization, the International Institute for Environment and Development where he led the research strategy team and work on urban resilience. He will be based in Delhi.

Dr Bahadur began his career as a volunteer for the IFRC’s regional delegation in the Indian capital, from where he worked closely with the National Societies of South Asia.

He has published widely on climate and development in leading academic journals, and contributed to Working Group II of the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle.

He completed his first degree at Delhi University and his doctorate at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex; he undertook a post-doctoral programme as a Fulbright Scholar at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

Dr Bahadur’s work has included supporting development of the Adaptation Research Alliance, alongside global advocacy for locally led adaptation; he coordinated research for the BRACED programme and led four country-programmes for the Action on Climate Today initiative.

His book Resilience Reset: Creating Resilient Cities in the Global South was published in 2022.

‘This is an exciting new chapter
for the Climate Centre’

Dr Bahadur said today: “The Climate Centre has consistently pioneered groundbreaking solutions that have enabled the most vulnerable to better withstand the impacts of a changing climate. 

“This is why I am particularly excited to join this remarkable organization, recognized worldwide for its expertise, innovation and commitment to tackling the most pressing challenge of our time.”

Climate Centre board Chair Yolanda Kakabadse said: “This is an exciting new chapter for the Climate Centre and we look forward to welcoming Aditya to the team soon.

“We were particularly impressed by his excellent track record in the field of climate research, and it’s good, once again, to have an IPCC author with us, bringing all the expertise that implies.”

Professor Maarten van Aalst stepped down as Climate Centre director in late 2022 to take up a post as Director-General and Chief Science Officer of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute; the centre has been led in the interim by climate specialist Julie Arrighi, who shares the position with the American Red Cross.