Meghana Munagala is a Senior Program Associate in the Climate, Economics and Finance Program at WRI India, where she supports India’s low-carbon transition with a focus on industrial decarbonization and corporate climate action work.

With six years of experience in sustainability and climate research, Meghana has worked across diverse sectors including FMCG, banking, building and manufacturing. She has led high-impact projects in GHG accounting, carbon neutrality roadmaps, life cycle assessments and ESG reporting, helping businesses embed sustainability into their core strategies while translating climate commitments into measurable action. Bridging consulting and research, she has developed innovative tools, including ESG calculators and product sustainability indices to enable data-driven climate action.

Meghana holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay, where her dissertation pioneered a circular economy model for India’s sugar industry, earning her the prestigious Naik and Rastogi Excellence in PhD Research Award. By converting agricultural waste into biofuels and biochemicals, her work demonstrated how integrated biorefinery systems can reduce emissions, optimize resource efficiency, and uplift rural economies. She also holds a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from IIT Hyderabad, applying a systems thinking approach to sustainability.

She enjoys slow travel, immersing herself in new cultures and local cuisines, dabbling in street photography and unwinding with yoga.