Prakash Rao is the Head of Symbiosis Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (SCCCS) at the Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Bombay with 39 years of experience in the field of ecology, environment and sustainability management with interests in climate change, energy and natural resource management sectors. He has coordinated several multidisciplinary and multi country projects ranging from natural resources to climate change and energy. He has led the Climate Change and Energy Programme at WWF-India for nearly ten years, coordinating its global research, energy policies and community action.

He has published around 85 publications including research papers, notes and book chapters in peer reviewed international journals and books including several articles in magazines and the media and undertaken several consultancies on environmental resource management. He contributes in an advisory capacity to the corporate sector on environmental sustainability issues. Dr Rao has published four books with a recent publication on ‘Environmental Impacts of Tourism in Developing Nations’ with IGI Global Publishers, USA. He is passionate in driving sustainability in higher education with a special focus on climate education.

He is currently coordinating a sustainability certification project for the Symbiosis International (Deemed University) to operationalise campus driven sustainability efforts through the 2000 Watt Smart Cities label, Switzerland.