| Tara Shirvani | |
| Birth Name: | Tara Shirvani |
| Birth Date: | 8 October 1986 |
| Birth Place: | Vienna, Austria |
| Citizenship: | Austria |
| Education: | University of Oxford (PhD), University of Cambridge (MEng) ESCP Business School (BSc) |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Sir David King |
| Thesis Title: | The role of catalysts and algae in forming a sustainable solution for a global food and fuel crisis |
| Thesis Year: | 2012 |
| Thesis Url: | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:30af0957-1ed6-4ea7-949b-f120606ab22e |
| Known For: | Engineering biology, Climate Change Mitigation, and Climate Finance |
| Prizes: | Forbes 30 under 30 (2016) |
Tara Shirvani (born 8 October 1986) is an Austrian biochemist, bio economist and climate finance expert. She is a co-founder of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group.[1] [2] She was awarded the Forbes 30 under 30 in 2016,[3] Aviva's Women of the Future award in 2018.[4] [5] and honoured by World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper.[6]
Tara was born in Vienna in 1986 with Iranian ancestry from Tehran and Isfahan, she grew up between Austria and Iran. She completed her school from Wasagasse BG9 in Vienna. She completed her Bachelor of Science in International Management in 2006 at ESCP Business School.[7] She went on to receive a master's in engineering for Sustainable Development from Cambridge University and a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Oxford University.[8] [9] [10]
In 2013 she started working at the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C., where she co-led the delivery of the World Bank’s Africa Climate Business Plan,[11] a platform for climate action that finances 176 projects totaling $17 billion dollars with the aim to galvanize low-carbon developments.[12] In 2018 she worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development based in London where she led the work on green infrastructure advisory[13] [14] later she went on to work in the private sector for investment firms such as Autonomy Capital and EQT. During that time, she has argued that the widespread overuse of ESG terminology in finance has diluted its original purpose, transforming it into a catch-all term that lacks clear, actionable standards for driving meaningful sustainability and corporate accountability.[15]
She became a contributing author for the book "Energy, Transport, & the Environment: Addressing the Sustainable Mobility Paradigm", where she said that biofuels can be a viable substitute for fossil fuels, most notably when it is produced in a sustainable manner and from raw materials which is not in direct competition with food or animal feed such as from switchgrass or algae.[16] It is currently being used as a university textbook at the University of Indonesia.[17]
Tara's research focus is based on Climate Finance, bioeconomy and Decarbonization. Her work on biofuels from microalgae, offers an alternative to traditional fossil-fuel based liquid transport fuels that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but only if the entire production process is optimized.[18] Using Life Cycle Analysis and developing a custom Catalyst Selective Index she found that while algae-based biodiesel could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the current production methods are too energy-intensive to be practical. To improve its viability, she suggested efficient co-product utilization, decarbonizing Scope 1 and 2 emissions sources, recycling wastewater and CO2 from exhaust gases and gene-editing the lipid content of industrial microalgae to result in higher levels of productivity.[19]
In 2023, she authored a book called "Plastic Eaters and Turbo Trees" where her research was based on the application of synthetic biology and the opportunities it provides for climate mitigation and adaptation[20] [21]
Tara provided specific examples of products that demonstrate the innovative use of bio-engineered materials, such as leather bags made from mycelium mushrooms by Stella McCartney, spider silk protein-based clothing by The North Face, and lab-grown leather seats used by Mercedes.[22] [23] Additionally, she has said that synthetic biology has led to advancements in industrial goods, with companies like LanzaTech turning waste CO2 into aviation fuels and textiles. Her other part of the research spoke about turbo trees, which are photosynthesis enhanced trees which grow 50% faster and capture 30% more carbon from the atmosphere as well as bacteria engineered to rapidly decompose plastic waste.[24]
The book was praised by Ursula von der Leyen.[25] and George Church[26]