Somik Lall

Lead Economist, Office of the Chief Economist for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, World Bank

Somik Lall is a Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions at the World Bank and is also Head of its Climate Economics team. Previously, he was the Bank’s Global Lead for territorial and spatial development and Lead Urban Economist in the Global Practice for Urban, Disaster Risk, Resilience, and Land. Dr. Lall joined the World Bank in 1999 as an Economist in the Development Economics Vice Presidency. He has advised senior policymakers in national governments and city mayors on key policy issues in more than 25 countries, including Brazil, China, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. He is widely published in academic and policy journals. His 2017 book, Africa's Cities: Opening Doors to the World, has been downloaded over 100,000 times and has 3 million social media views. He has also developed a novel, data-driven approach to help city mayors rapidly respond to protect their citizens from the ravages of COVID 19. Listen to his podcast on the Monocle. Somik’s recent work focuses on examining the drivers of carbon emissions across low- and middle-income economies; identifying the contribution of rising productivity and incomes in helping communities protect themselves from the risks of natural hazards; and examining the political economy of climate action.