Karim Elgendy

Associate Fellow, Chatham House

Karim Elgendy is an urban sustainability and climate consultant based in London. He is an associate director at Buro Happold, an associate fellow at Chatham House (The Royal Institute for International Affairs), a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, and the founder and coordinator of Carboun, an advocacy initiative promoting sustainability in the cities of the Middle East and North Africa through research and communication.  

Elgendy’s interests include urban sustainability and resilience, climate policy, energy transition, urban metabolism, and the circular economy. His current work focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, especially the eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf, but his two decades of experience spans Europe, North America, and sub-Saharan Africa. 

In addition to being a regular public speaker, writer, guest lecturer, and commentator, Elgendy is regularly interviewed and cited by television, print, and digital mainstream media. He was the recipient of the 2013 Global Green Building Entrepreneurship Award from the World Green Building Council, is a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and has a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Climate Commitments: Less Reason for the Arab Region to Cop Out?

On March 29, AGSIW and the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute co-hosted a panel discussion examining the Arab region's positions on climate change.

Blog Post content-type in which the post is published

Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa: Hosting Negotiations and Catalyzing Action 

The region seems to have jumped on the climate bandwagon, but its expanding ambitions also suggest it is trying to take control of the steering wheel.

Blog Post content-type in which the post is published

Paradise Lost: An Environmental Tragedy in Iran

Iran’s Khuzestan province has experienced an unprecedented water shortage; yet climate change alone cannot explain how an area endowed with such exceptional natural resources could fail its people so catastrophically.