Narasimha Rao
Senior Research Scholar
Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions Research Group
Energy, Climate, and Environment Program
Biography
Narasimha Rao is a senior research scholar in the IIASA Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions Research Group of the Energy, Climate, and Environment Program and an Associate Professor of Energy Systems at the Yale School of the Environment, in the US. His research examines the relationship between energy systems, human development, and climate change. He is a contributing author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s Sixth Assessment Report.He is the recipient of the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (2015-2018) for a project entitled Decent Living Energy, which explores energy and emissions thresholds for providing decent living standards for all. His research interests also include income inequality, infrastructure, and climate policy. For his current research, Rao was awarded the 2011 Amulya K. Reddy Prize for the Best Paper in the journal Energy for Sustainable Development for his paper entitled 'Kerosene Subsidies in India: When Energy Policy Fails as Social Policy'.
Rao obtained his PhD in Environment and Resources from Stanford University, California, and two Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Technology Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Last update: 16 JUN 2021
Publications
Kikstra, J. , Daioglou, V., Min, J. , Sferra, F., Soergel, B., Kriegler, E., Lee, H., Mastrucci, A. , Pachauri, S. , Rao, N. , Rauner, S., van Vuuren, D., Riahi, K. , van Ruijven, B. , & Rogelj, J. (2025). Closing decent living gaps in energy and emissions scenarios: introducing DESIRE. Environmental Research Letters 20 (5) e054038. 10.1088/1748-9326/adc3ad.
Liang, S., Davis, K.F., Rao, N. , Singh, D., Sun, J., Wu, W., Tang, H., Yang, P., & DeFries, R. (2025). Conflicting stakeholder priorities produce sustainability tradeoffs for cereal production in Northeast China. Environmental Research Communications 7 (5) e051003. 10.1088/2515-7620/add3d6.
Akkiraju, K. & Rao, N. (2025). Higher income is associated with greater life satisfaction, and more stress. Communications Psychology 3 (1) 10.1038/s44271-025-00210-z.
Rao, N. , Siam, M.R.K., & Bond, T.C. (2025). A critical review of heat pump adoption in empirical and modeling literature. iScience 28 (1) e111666. 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111666.
SDG7 Technical Advisory Group (2025). Maximising the Benefits of Energy Action for Good Health, Gender Equality and Decent Work to Leave No one Behind: SDG7 Policy Briefs in Support of the High-Level Political Forum. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) , New York, USA.