In discussion with Future of Diplomacy Faculty Director, R. Nicholas Burns, Jairam Ramesh will discuss international climate change diplomacy in the lead up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris.
Jairam Ramesh is a 2014 Fisher Family Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project and a leader in international climate negotiations. A Member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh, Ramesh was chief negotiator for India at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 to 18 December 2009. He has been a leading figure in international climate diplomacy for years.
Ramesh was the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development under Prime Minister Singh from 2011-2014. Previously, he was named Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2011. He held numerous high-level government posts, including the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests from 2009-2011; Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power from 2008-2009 and Union Minister of State for Commerce from 2006-2009.
In the 1980s and 1990s he served in a number of high-ranking advisory roles in various government ministries, including as Adviser to the Finance Minister and Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Industry.
A prolific writer and analytical thinker, Minister Ramesh wrote columns for the Telegraph and for India Today among a number of other publications for years. He has published books on US-India relations and on the effects of globalization on India.
