Shazneen Cyrus Gazdar - South Asia Women in Energy (Sawie)

With 14 years of multinational experience in climate change policy, environmental management, ecological conservation and international relations, Ms. Shazneen Cyrus Gazdar is well versed in the varied dynamic of the science-society-policy interface. Her experience spans environment-climate-energy-sustainable development work across India, Germany, USA, UK, Portugal and the Spanish Canaries (La Palma Island).

Recently, Shazneen was responsible for the knowledge capture for the ‘Capacity Building for Low Carbon and Climate Resilient City Development’ – the CapaCITIES Project with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, think tank to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. The thematic issues of concern were renewable energy, solid waste management, water, wastewater management, air quality and transportation. She was responsible for the production of knowledge products, including policy briefs on building climate resilient cities for the States of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, and an overarching policy brief for the Government of India.

Previously, Shazneen was Advisor on Human Rights, Climate Change and Sustainability at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations in New York City. She supported the Permanent Representatives in a technical capacity as a subject matter specialist on climate-based negotiations as well as on child and gender equity and represented the Republic of Maldives at the UNGA plenaries.

Academically, Shazneen has an MSc in Global Change Ecology (2016) from Universität Bayreuth, in Germany an MSc. in Environmental Conservation (2005) from the University of Greenwich (United Kingdom) as well as a BSc in Botany, Chemistry and Zoology (2002) from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat (India). She was also an Erasmus Scholar at the Instituto Superior De Agronomia, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal (2015). Through this background she focuses on the science and policy of climate and global change with a strong foundation in the life sciences.