Three Indian Americans have been included in TIME magazine’s 2026 TIME100 Climate list, which recognizes 100 individuals influencing the global response to climate change.
K.R. Sridhar, founder and CEO of Bloom Energy; Aparna Shrivastava, executive director of Climate Reserve at the Aspen Global Change Institute; and Ani Dasgupta, president and CEO of the World Resources Institute (WRI), were recognized in the Titans and Defenders categories.
Their contributions cover different areas of climate action, including electricity generation, the preservation of scientific research and the expansion of clean-energy initiatives.
Sridhar was recognized in the Titans category for his work developing fuel-cell technology through Bloom Energy. The company’s systems generate electricity on-site and can operate using different fuels, including natural gas, biogas and hydrogen. The technology offers an alternative to conventional power generation, although its environmental impact depends on the fuel used.
Bloom Energy’s partnership with Oracle has brought its technology into the growing market for data center power. In April 2026, Oracle and BorderPlex Digital Assets announced that Bloom fuel cells would power Project Jupiter, an artificial intelligence data center campus in Doña Ana County, New Mexico.
The project is expected to use up to 2.45 gigawatts of installed fuel-cell capacity. The announcement said the fuel-cell system would replace previously planned gas turbines and diesel generators.
Read: Two Indian American biomedical engineers named 2027 Siebel Scholars (October 16, 2026)
Before founding Bloom Energy, Sridhar was a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona, where he also directed the Space Technologies Laboratory. He advised NASA on space technology and research related to Mars exploration.
Sridhar earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli in 1982. He subsequently completed a master’s degree in nuclear engineering in 1984 and a PhD in mechanical engineering in 1990 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Shrivastava was recognized in the Defenders category for her work supporting climate scientists and preserving research capacity amid changes to federal science programs in the United States.
She serves as executive director of Climate Reserve at the Aspen Global Change Institute. The initiative works to connect climate experts with organizations and funding partners, helping them continue research and related work. Shrivastava joined the institute after more than 14 years working at the intersection of climate, development and finance.
Her previous position was leading the climate office at the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., where she oversaw climate investments across clean energy, resilient infrastructure, agriculture and the circular economy.
Climate Reserve was established to help retain scientific expertise and provide opportunities for researchers whose work has been affected by changes in federal funding and staffing. TIME reported that the initiative had placed at least 50 experts at 25 host institutions and mobilized more than $4.5 million in support.
Dasgupta was named in the Defenders category for his leadership of WRI, an international research organization working on climate change, forests, oceans, sustainable cities and sustainable development.
Read: Indian American professor Rita Mitra earns 2026 teaching award (October 23, 2026)
One initiative highlighted in connection with his work is the Latin America Clean Energy Coalition, launched by WRI and partner organizations in November 2025 at the COP30 climate conference in Brazil. The coalition aims to accelerate corporate clean-energy adoption, support the decarbonization of key industries and expand clean-energy investment across Latin America.
WRI also served as the secretariat for the 2026 Our Ocean Conference, held in Mombasa, Kenya. The conference concluded on June 18 with 320 commitments valued at $6.4 billion from governments, businesses and civil society organizations for ocean conservation, sustainable fisheries, climate resilience and the blue economy.
The recognition also comes amid WRI’s work on transport electrification in Ethiopia. The organization has supported the country’s efforts to develop an electric mobility strategy.
Ethiopia’s national five-year e-mobility strategy sets a target of increasing the share of electric vehicles among newly registered vehicles from 40% to 80%. It also includes plans to expand charging infrastructure and encourage local vehicle production.
In his interview with TIME, Dasgupta described climate action as an economic transition rather than solely an effort to reduce carbon emissions. He also identified India and Brazil among the middle-income countries with an important role in developing the clean economy.
TIME introduced the TIME100 Climate list in 2023 to recognize influential figures driving climate action through business and other initiatives. The 2026 edition is the fourth annual selection.