SRIDHAR RADHAKRISHNAN
ENVIRONMENTALIST | POLICY ADVOCATE | AGROECOLOGY & CLIMATE ACTION
Sridhar Radhakrishnan is an environmentalist, researcher and public policy advocate with nearly three decades of experience in environmental justice, agroecology, climate action, land use, food and seed sovereignty, and democratic governance. Trained as a computer engineer, he moved into full-time environmental work in 1997 after serving at NTPC and the Institute of Human Resources Development. From 1997 to 2019, he held several leadership roles at Thanal, including Programme Director, and coordinated the multi-state Save Our Rice Campaign. He is a founding member of ASHA-Kisan Swaraj and a founding member and former National Coordinator of the Coalition for a GM-Free India.
His policy contributions include Kerala’s Organic Farming Policy and draft Land Policy, participation in the agriculture and environment subcommittees of the Kerala State Planning Board, and the expert committee on land use policy at the Tamil Nadu State Development Policy Council. In 2026, he chaired the drafting committee for From Forest to Sea: Kerala People’s Environmental Charter and served as environmental expert on the Government of Kerala committee reviewing the proposed high-speed rail project. His early research examined the impact of industrial extraction on Kerala’s forests and was published as Grasim Since 1963: The Burden on Our Heads. As Principal Researcher with the Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development at the Centre for Development Studies, he led studies on industrial–local linkages and zero-waste livelihoods involving women’s self-help groups, and has served as a civil-society observer at the UN Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
He currently serves in leadership and advisory roles with ASHA-Kisan Swaraj, Thirunelly Agri Producer Company, Agroecology Fund, Bharat Agroecology Fund and GRAIN. He writes regularly in English and Malayalam and has authored or contributed to publications including Cleaning Up Kerala: Studies in Self-Help in Dealing with Solid Waste and A Green Print for Sustainable Kerala: Lessons for Existence.
