Chandran Nair

Chandran Nair is the Founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), an independent pan-Asian think tank based in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Under his leadership, GIFT has advanced a nuanced understanding of critical global issues, including the shift of economic and political influence from the West to Asia, the evolving relationship between business and society, and the transformation of global capitalism.

Nair is the author of Understanding China:Governance, Socio-Economics, Global Influence, Dismantling Global White Privilege: Equity for a Post-Western World, The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy, and Society, and Consumptionomics: Asia’s Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet. He is also the creator of The Other Hundred, a non-profit global photojournalism initiative presenting a counterpoint to mainstream media perspectives on today’s most pressing issues.

A bio-chemical engineer by training, Nair served as Chairman of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) Asia Pacific until 2004, establishing the firm as the region’s leading environmental consultancy.

He serves on the Executive Committee of the Club of Rome, the world’s premier scientific think tank, and is a member of the Global Steering Committee for the Business and Sustainability Programme at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, as well as the Global Agenda Council on Governance for Sustainability and Experts Forum at the World Economic Forum. He is a Senior Fellow of the CIMB ASEAN Research Institute, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia on development issues.

Nair has held academic appointments as an Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. He is a former advisor to ORIX Corporation and a former member of the Stakeholder Advisory Council for BASF, the world’s largest chemical company.