Ravi Agarwal is the Director of Toxics Link. Ravi pioneered public advocacy-based work in the area of chemicals and waste, after over 15 years of professional experience as an entrepreneur and engineer. He has been part of several policy and legislative processes in India as a member of Standards Expert Groups on Biomedical Waste, Hazardous Waste Technologies, and Plastics Waste Management, amongst others. Ravi has written widely on these issues, both in journals as well as in the popular media. He has lectured extensively on chemical safety issues besides initiating on-the-ground initiatives.
A Communications Engineer and MBA by training, Ravi has worked closely with agencies like WHO and UNEP for initiatives on hazardous waste trade, mercury, technological options for biomedical waste treatment, and lead in paints. He has led the campaign for the fight for the Delhi Ridge Forest for over 15 years and is a member of the Ridge Management Board and the Delhi Tree Authority. He has participated as an NGO representative in the formulation of several International multilateral treaty processes, including the Stockholm Convention on POPs, the Basel Convention, the SAICM process as well as the ongoing intergovernmental negotiations for a Mercury Treaty.
He is an Executive Board member and Treasurer of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), a global network with over 600 members mostly from the global, besides being a Steering Committee member, and been part of the founding of the Zero Mercury Working Group, Health Care Without Harm, and the Basel Action Network. He was the first India chair of the Global Greengrants Foundation (GGF) and initiated the Environmental Equity and Justice Partnership fund in India to support grassroots work on chemical safety. Ravi was awarded the IFCS-WHO Special Recognition Award for Chemical Safety in 2008 and the Ashoka Fellowship in 1998.
Apart from his passion for the environment, he is a keen birdwatcher and also a well-known artist, photographer, and curator, having participated in several important shows nationally and internationally.
