Badri Chatterjee

Strategic communications specialist with over 14 years of diverse experience in journalism, climate communication, and collaborative ecosystem building. Leads the communications function at Common Ground, connecting grassroots stewardship of land, forest, and water commons with national and global conversations on climate, equity, and livelihoods. Oversee the creation of storytelling platforms, while enabling peer-to-peer communication networks that support 70+ partner organisations across multiple states in India. Expertise includes crafting compelling narratives and media engagement strategies.

Previous roles include Head of Communications at Asar Social Impact Advisor, and Senior Communications Manager at ICLEI South Asia, where successful campaigns were executed, reports authored in collaboration with government institutions, and networks across civil society and media were strengthened. A former Principal Correspondent with The Hindustan Times, with extensive experience in reporting on air pollution, wildlife, forests, and marine conservation, continues to inform efforts to bridge communities, policy, and public discourse.

• Policy & Advisory Support: Contributed to structuring Maharashtra’s Climate Action Plans (Mumbai and state-level), supporting integration of climate resilience and low-carbon pathways into policy frameworks.
• National Urban Policy Engagement: Collaborated with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) on the State of Cities: Low Carbon & Resilient Pathways report, leading on communication strategy and stakeholder engagement across India.
• Commons Governance Communications: Designed and implemented strategic communications frameworks to engage community voices, grassroots champions, communicators, and decision-makers on land, forest, and water commons.
• Media Recognition: Awarded Excellence in Environment Journalism (Think Wildlife Awards, 2018) and Excellence in Reporting on Water Conservation (River March & SBI Life, 2020) for impactful environmental reporting.
• Editorial & Storytelling: Former Principal Correspondent at Hindustan Times with 246 front-page stories; only English print journalist to cover Cyclone Nisarga (2020) on the ground.
• Thought Leadership & Lectures: Guest lecturer on environmental journalism and government engagement at Xavier’s Institute of Communication, Mumbai, and invited speaker at national workshops and institutes.

• Curator & Author of ‘Climate Dialogues: Perspectives from Thought Leaders’ with National Institute of Urban Affairs, Government of India: https://niua.in/intranet/sites/default/files/2911.pdf
• Contributor to ‘State of Cities: Towards Low Carbon & Resilient Pathways’ with National Institute of Urban Affairs, Government of India & ICLEI South Asia: https://southasia.iclei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/State-of-Cities.pdf
• Co-authored a chapter on Energy Transition in Nagpur, Maharashtra in the book - The Role of Coal in a Sustainable Energy Mix for India: A Wide-Angle View - by the Centre for Development and Environment Policy (CDEP) at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) - https://www.routledge.com/The-Role-of-Coal-in-a-Sustainable-Energy-Mix-for-In/Mohanty-Sarkar/p/book/9781032516462
• Featured in Forbes as Youth Climate Leader: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/take-one-big-story-of-the-day/international-youth-day-the-next-100-years-of-the-planet-are-uncertain-the-fight-for-the-future-is-on/69719/1

• Diploma on covering Human Trafficking and Slavery
• Thomson Reuters Foundation | April 2016
• The Thomson Reuters Foundation’s five-day Reporting Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery course was a unique chance to gain practical skills and knowledge through hands-on training. It is part of the Foundation’s new initiative launched in partnership with C&A Foundation aimed at raising awareness of trafficking and forced labour across South Asia.
• How to Cover the Climate Crisis & Fight Disinformation
• The University of Texas at Austin - Knight Centre for Journalism in the Americas | September 2022
• Www.kccourses.org/mod/customcert/my_cert...
• The Knight Center’s, “How to Cover the Climate Crisis – and Fight Disinformation,” Course was organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and sponsored by Google News Initiative. The course focussed on climate science and climate journalism, as well as efforts to undermine climate science with disinformation.