Akaraseth Puranasamriddhi

The Fiscal Implications of Climate Risks to Critical Infrastructure

Akaraseth is an EPSRC-funded DPhil student at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. Under the supervision of Professor Jim Hall and Dr Nicola Ranger, his research focuses on the relationships between physical climate risks, critical infrastructure, and public finance. In particular, it aims to understand and quantify the fiscal implications of climate risks to critical infrastructure. This involves producing a comprehensive overview of evidence on the fiscal impacts of climate risks and demonstrating their fiscal implications on sovereign creditworthiness.

Alongside his DPhil studies, Akaraseth is a Research Affiliate at the University of Cambridge and University College London (UCL). He is also a Trustee at Engineers Without Borders UK and a member of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Environment Programme (UNEP), Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Human Rights (UN OHCHR) Youth Advisory Group on Climate Justice in the Asia-Pacific.

Akaraseth holds an MSc (Distinction) in Engineering for International Development from UCL and a BEng in Electrical Engineering with minors in Economics and Anthropology from McGill University.