Varun Sivaram
Western Session
SVP for Strategy and Innovation, Orsted
Fireside Chat: Geopolitical Perspectives on Climate Change
Varun Sivaram is a physicist, bestselling author, and clean energy technology expert with experience spanning the corporate, public, and academic sectors. He currently serves as the Group Senior Vice President of Strategy & Innovation for Ørsted, a leading renewable energy company with the world’s largest offshore wind energy portfolio. He previously served in the U.S. Biden-Harris administration as the managing director for clean energy and innovation for Secretary John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, where he spearheaded flagship U.S. initiatives such as the First Movers Coalition. Previously, as chief technology officer of ReNew Power, Sivaram led research and development for a multibillion-dollar company recognized as India’s largest producer of renewable energy as well as its most innovative energy company. A widely published scientist and innovation scholar, Sivaram has served on the faculty of Georgetown University and Columbia University. He has also shaped government policies supportive of innovation as the director of the energy and climate program at the Council on Foreign Relations and as a senior energy advisor to the Los Angeles mayor and New York governor's office. He has served on the boards of the Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy; as one of the 25 advisors to the UN COP26 climate conference in 2021, on the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council for the Energy Transition; as senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, ITIF, and Energy for Growth; and on the board of directors of Peridot Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:PDAC). TIME Magazine named him one of its "100 Next most influential people in the world," MIT Technology Review named him one of the top 35 innovators under 35, and PV Magazine called him "the Hamilton of the Solar Industry."
His books include "Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet"—which The Economist called "prescient"—and Digital Decarbonization: Promoting Digital Innovations to Advance Clean Energy Systems. His newest book, "Energizing America: A Roadmap to Launch a National Energy Innovation Mission," was endorsed by Sec. John Kerry as "a plan to make the United States the world leader in clean energy innovation." Bill Gates praised his essay in Foreign Affairs as "one of the best arguments I've read for why the US should invest in a clean energy revolution." A Rhodes and Truman Scholar, Sivaram holds a PhD in condensed matter physics from Oxford University and undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.