Gracelin Baskaran

Research Director and Senior Fellow, Energy Security and Climate Change Program
5Baskaran

Gracelin Baskaran is the research director and senior fellow for the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She is a mining economist, and her primary expertise is in critical minerals, trade, and emerging markets. Prior to joining CSIS, she spent seven years in South Africa working on the platinum group metals sector and later joining the World Bank, where she coauthored the book Africa’s Resource Future: Harnessing Natural Resources for Economic Transformation during the Low-Carbon Transition (World Bank, 2023). She has also held academic positions at the University of Cambridge, University of London, and University of Cape Town.

Dr. Baskaran has been cited as an expert in the Washington Post, Politico, Fox, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, Voice of America, Energy Intelligence, and the U.S. International Trade Commission, among others. She has also published over 100 op-eds and columns, 20+ policy reports and white papers, and research in academic journals. She frequently speaks at international mining and climate events. Dr. Baskaran was a Fulbright scholar and holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge.

Programs & Projects

Areas of Expertise

In the News

All Gracelin Baskaran Content

Filter by

1 - 10 of 31 results
Executive Education

Global Foresight: Preparing for Future Trends

Global Foresight: Preparing for Future Trends is Washington’s premier executive course for mid-to senior-level professionals responsible for helping their organizations predict and prepare for the global macrotrends that will drive change for the next 30 years.

Course Date: April 8, 2024
Registration Closes: March 29, 2024
Executive Education

Evolving Tech: Innovation, Competition, and Change

This online, self-paced course focuses on the critical issues leaders must grasp as we move into a global environment increasingly reshaped by geopolitical and economic competition in high-tech manufacturing, biotechnology, security, and the unknowns of future innovation. Early registration opens March 25, 2024 and will continue on a rolling basis. The course platform will be distributed beginning April 8, 2024.

Course Date: April 8, 2024
Registration Closes: December 31, 2024

Book Event: The War Below with Author Ernest Scheyder

Please join the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program for a conversation with Ernest Scheyder, Senior Correspondent at Reuters, on his new book, The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives.

Event — March 11, 2024

Energy 360°

Critical Minerals' Role in the Energy Transition

This week, Adam Johnson, Managing Partner with Metis Endeavor, joins Gracelin Baskaran to share his insights on the role of critical minerals in the energy transition.

Podcast Episode by Gracelin Baskaran and Adam Johnson — February 20, 2024

CSIS Energy 360

Adding a Critical Minerals Agreement to the AGOA Reauthorization

Adding a critical minerals agreement to the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) will incentivize private investment by enabling minerals sourced in AGOA countries to meet Inflation Reduction Act sourcing requirements for the 30D tax credit.

Critical Questions by Gracelin Baskaran — February 5, 2024

Africa’s Energy Transition

Please join the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program for a conversation on achieving universal energy access in Africa amid global decarbonization. Andrew Herscowitz, Executive Director of ODI and former inaugural coordinator of President Barack Obama’s Power Africa initiative, will join Gracelin Baskaran, Research Director and Senior Fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at CSIS to discuss this and more. 

Event — February 1, 2024

Achieving Universal Energy Access in Africa amid Global Decarbonization

Africa is home to 600 million people who lack access to energy. It also has the fastest growing population: in two decades, one out of every four people in the world will live on the continent. Significant intervention is needed to build Africa’s energy capacity.

Brief by Gracelin Baskaran and Sophie Coste — January 31, 2024