Siddharth Sinha
Master of Public Administration (MPA) Class of 2018
Name: Siddharth Sinha
Programme: Master of Public Administration (MPA), Class of 2018
Nationality: Indian
Since completing his MPA at the LSE School of Public Policy (SPP) in 2018, Siddharth Sinha has built a career at the intersection of public policy, climate, energy and digital infrastructure. In the Government of India, he worked on national decarbonization and net zero initiatives, and worked on the COVID-19 Task Force. He later joined the G20 Secretariat, where he contributed to consensus-building during India’s G20 Presidency. He went on to lead climate and sustainability initiatives at Google, where he co-built a global air quality solution, before taking on his current role as Associate Vice President at Greenko, a global clean energy and green molecules company.
His latest milestone is the publication of Smarter than the Storm, co-authored with Amitabh Kant, which explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and climate change. Below, Sid reflects on his career journey and how his time at LSE SPP has shaped his path.
Why did you choose to study the MPA?
Before the MPA, I trained as an electrical engineer with a focus on renewable energy. I began my career as a strategy consultant at KPMG. I quickly realised that creating impact at a macro-level requires a deep understanding of public policy, which led me to explore programmes in public policy and public administration, and ultimately to the SPP. The diversity of the cohort and the global perspectives it offered were major reasons I chose the MPA at SPP.
Can you tell us about your career journey since graduation?
Government of India
After graduating, I went back and joined the Indian government through the Young Professionals program at the National Institution for Transforming India. This is the Government of India's apex policy planning agency, led by the Prime Minister of India.
I was allocated to the office of the Chief Executive Officer and my role focused on climate, energy, transport and digital inclusion. This role really gave me the opportunity to contribute to national level policymaking including the unique opportunity to work on a project that culminated in India's first high speed rail for regional connectivity between Delhi and neighbouring cities. It also had the opportunity to lead two very large scale transport decarbonisation initiatives, which brought multilateral agencies, think tanks and various levels of government, in India, together. I contributed to India’s COP26 strategy and also helped set up the country’s National EV Mission. During this time, I also worked with the World Economic Forum to build a global policy navigator tool to help countries deepen digitization across key sectors.
I continue to build on my niche in climate and had the opportunity again to serve as India's representative to the OECD's International Transport Forum.
G20
When India assumed the G20 presidency, I moved to the G20 Secretariat of the Ministry of External Affairs as the Adviser to the Prime Minister’s G20 Sherpa, who is also the co-author of this book. I found myself drawing heavily on what I had learned at the School of Public Policy. My work shifted from national policymaking to a truly international arena. As the host country, we had to build consensus across a diverse group of nations, and we turned that responsibility into an opportunity — pushing the G20 to align on issues like expanding climate finance, advancing cooperation on green hydrogen, promoting digital public inclusion, and encouraging the responsible use of AI.
It was a once‑in‑a‑lifetime experience to watch countries with very different perspectives sit at the same negotiating table and work toward shared outcomes. In those moments, my training at the School of Public Policy proved invaluable, helping me think through the central question: how do we bring everyone on board and ensure that every country feels heard and satisfied?
After I completed G20, I decided to move to Google because I felt that this was an interesting opportunity to bridge the gap between theory and implementation.
My focus was on Maps, climate and sustainability initiatives and how they could be brought together to drive climate action and energy transition, especially in developing countries. I had the opportunity to set up a cross-company initiative, which we called the Global South Project. The focus was bringing together teams working on AI use cases in climate, energy and sustainability together and help accelerate their efforts in emerging economies. These ranged from AI tools that could predict wildfires to those that could help detect pollution hotspots. This is where I had the opportunity to co-conceptualize AirView100 with my colleague, a AI-enabled hyperlocal air quality solution, which is operational in India and Brazil has been able to improve air quality by up to 50% in some cities.
What is one takeaway from your studies and time at LSE SPP which you use in your career?
Something that I picked up from the School of Public Policy which I continue using is really understanding the dynamics of international political economy. Whenever you're dealing with multiple stakeholders and with challenges which are very multi-dimensional and complex, it's important to understand the political economy and decipher the very many forces behind a decision or a situation, only then can you solve it.
Today we often talk about having multiple reports and policy suggestions and recommendations that go to the government. But one of the things that I think all of us need to understand is that most of the time, the government does know what the problems are. They might even know what the solutions are, but what is stopping them from implementing those solutions? That is where a political economy angle comes in.
When you're studying development economics or political economy of development, you have these brilliant case studies from across the world which show how small interventions can bring about a big change at the community level. Thinking about how similar programs could be tailored and amplified so that they could bring about a population scale impact is something that's truly fascinating.
What do you think is special or unique about the SPP?
I think there are a number of unique things which I love about the School of Public Policy. Firstly, the diversity. You've got people from all parts of the world with very different backgrounds all learning from each other.
The MPA Capstone Project is interesting because during the last few months for your programme it allows you to actually work on a real policy problem. My project, for instance, was with, the UN in Uzbekistan. It is a good opportunity for you to bridge the gap between policy and practice.
More generally I liked the flexibility that School of Public Policy offers in terms of specialising in different fields. You can take courses from across the LSE; for example, I took up courses around conflict management, world trade systems, economics of urbanization. I had a feeling that climate would be my forte going forward and these courses really allowed me to look at the multi-dimensional impact of what I was going to pursue afterwards.
Another thing which I value is the very strong sense of community at SPP, not just between the alumni, but also between the alumni and members of the staff, alumni and the management of the London School of Economics. It is a very strong and cohesive group and I feel very welcome here. I've been able to meet a lot of people, and I think once you've graduated from the School of Public Policy, you remain a part of SPP and the environment is always welcoming when you come back.
I would say is SPP is for life, because you can always come back, you can always collaborate with people, and you can always count upon the SPP to connect you with like-minded, people around the world.
We look forward to welcoming you back to LSE to talk about your new book 'Smarter than the Storm'. What can you tell us about the book?
Smarter Than the Storm is a book on the interplay of AI, climate, energy, and digital public infrastructure (DPI). It is particularly timely because we are living in a world where challenges are multidimensional and deeply interlinked. Of the many challenges we face, there is one that cuts across every sector, from conflict, geopolitics, and critical minerals to energy, health, and even financial markets, and that is climate change. It can be thought of as a threat multiplier.
On the other hand, we are witnessing a once-in-a-century disruption driven by AI. The question then is: can AI act as a force multiplier to combat this threat multiplier?
The book explores the complex interplay between AI and climate, and then presents cutting-edge case studies from across the world that highlight how AI is being leveraged for climate, energy, and sustainability. At the same time, we recognise AI’s own energy footprint as a key challenge. However, that is not the only issue we identify. There is also the limited availability of contextual data on which AI models are trained, which can lead to less effective solutions and increase costs for startups and developers, particularly when such data is locked behind paywalls.
Rather than viewing these as constraints, we see them as opportunities to shape a future of AI that is both green and sovereign. The book proposes green data centres, digital public infrastructure for AI, and AI sovereignty as key pillars of this future, along with pathways to unlock them at scale.
The narrative is woven through characters reflecting lived realities across geographies: two girls, one from the developed world and one from the developing world, and a young techie who teams up with the mayor of his town to drive change.
Finally, we outline a broader strategy aimed at enabling real-world implementation. I am also very pleased that the book has been endorsed by the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, as well as by Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the LSE Global School of Sustainability, and Professor Velasco, Dean of SPP.
My co-author and I will be discussing the book at a public event hosted by the LSE Global School of Sustainability on 24 June, and we welcome you all to attend to find out more.