Neeshad Shafi

Neeshad Shafi is a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He is an award-winning environmentalist with experience analyzing global climate policy, strategy, and advocacy with a focus on the Gulf and Middle East. He is also an expert on social movements and the political dimensions of environmental politics in the Arab region.

He was named in the “Apolitical List” of the 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy in 2019 and 2022. He was also recognized among the ‘Middle East’s Most Creative People in Business’ by Fast Company in 2023 under the ‘Saving the Planet’ category. In 2024, he was listed in the Climate 100 List by The Independent, a UK-based media outlet.

He was previously a Non-Resident Fellow with the Wilson Center and Middle East Institute (MEI). He co-founded the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar (AYCMQA) and Arab Youth 4 COP (AY4COP), which continue to mobilize regional action on climate challenges. Shafi holds a master’s degree in Energy and Environmental Engineering and is based in Doha, Qatar.

Shafi’s writings have been published with the World Economic Forum (WEF) Agenda, Climate Policy and Politics in the Middle East by Bloomsbury, the Middle East Institute (MEI), The Cairo Review, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). His interviews have appeared on Euro News, France24, Al Jazeera, BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, TRT News, CGTN Français, and Anadolu Agency.