Caroline Arkalji
Junior Fellow
Caroline Arkalji
Caroline Arkalji is a Junior Fellow at ORF America, working with the Energy and Climate Policy and Global Economics and Development programs. Her research focuses on heavy-industry decarbonization — spanning technologies, enabling infrastructure, and demand creation for green steel — as well as strategic minerals supply chain security, diversification, and responsible sourcing. She also examines how developing economies can leverage their natural resources, markets, and strategic locations to attract investment and technology to advance their development goals. Her research at ORF America has also covered biofuels and the Global Biofuels Alliance, steel decarbonization, energy transition pathways in IBSA countries and Indonesia, digital payment systems such as Brazil's Pix and India's UPI, and the development agenda of Global South G20 presidencies.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Affairs from Wake Forest University and a Master's in International Economic Relations, focusing on quantitative methods, from American University. During her studies, she conducted Substantial Research on the effect of internal carbon pricing adoption on promoting total and environmental technological innovation. She authored the research "Does internal carbon pricing promote environmental and total technological innovation?" which enhanced her interest in energy policies and economic cooperation.
Before joining ORF America, Caroline interned at BMJ- Government Relations Consultancy in Brasília, conducting research and literature reviews on various topics, including the environment, trade, energy, public health, and economics in Latin American countries, supporting the consultancy activities, and being actively engaged with the Brazilian government. Previously, she has interned at the Atlantic Council Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center and the Wilson Center Brazilian Institute in DC.
Carol grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, where her family resides. She is fluent in Portuguese and English and proficient in Spanish and French.
Publications
Special Report No. 10
By Piyush Verma, Caroline Arkalji, and Telmen Altanshagai
Special Report No. 9
By Medha Prasanna, Caroline Arkalji, and Piyush Verma
Special Report No. 7
By Piyush Verma, Medha Prasanna, Caroline Arkalji, Erlijn Van Genuchten, and Siddharth Sharma
Background Paper No. 37
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
Background Paper No. 34
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
Special Report
By Medha Prasanna, Caroline Arkalji, and Hansika Nath
Background Paper No. 33
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
This special report explores the opportunities of a U.S.-India Strategic Energy and Industrial Partnership.
Special Report
By Aditya Ramji
This volume of short working papers is a product of ORF America’s U.S.-India Emerging Climate Leaders as they attempt to develop ideas around climate collaboration and communication for the United States and India.
Special Report
By Abigail Doerr, Amol Kapoor, Bhagyashri Kulkarni, Dhruva Jaishankar, Jonika Rathi, Karan Sinha, Lindsay Maizland, Medha Prasanna, Meenakshi Venkatraman, Miaoru Guan, Mridu Jhangiani, Pankaj Mahalle, Patrick Soltis, Paul Gordon, Perrin Krisko, Sabareesh Suresh, Tanya Kak, Vandita Sariya, Vanshica Kant, and Vedant Patil
Editors: Caroline Arkalji, Jeffrey D. Bean, and Medha Prasanna
"Rebalancing Globalization: Perspectives from the Global South" attempts to provide a framework for the next phase of globalization that is rebalanced and sustainable and can address issues that matter to the Global South.
Edited Volume
By Anit Mukherjee, Dhruva Jaishankar, Alan Gelb, Pamla Gopaul, Marta Bengoa, Shayak Sengupta, Aude Darnal, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, Udaibir Das, Veronica Jijon, and Lorrayne Porciuncula
Editors: Anit Mukherjee and Dhruva Jaishankar
COmmENTS
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
If implemented effectively, the Global Biofuels Alliance could help position biofuels not simply as a short-term response to supply disruptions, but as a more strategic pillar of long-term energy security, industrial development, and energy transitions.
By Caroline Arkalji and Telmen Altanshagai
In the coming decades, green steel will shape whether heavy industry can remain both competitive and environmentally-aligned. The remaining question is whether policy frameworks, financing mechanisms, and workforce strategies can move at the same pace.
By Caroline Arkalji
For utilities and developers, a robust U.S. battery-storage industry would reduce dependence on overseas suppliers, cut logistical and tariff-related costs, and accelerate project deployment. If the United States seizes this moment, it can position itself as a global leader in grid-scale battery manufacturing and deliver a more reliable, competitive, and secure energy system for the decades ahead.
By Caroline Arkalji
Securing strategic minerals against intensifying natural risks is no longer just a business challenge; it must be a global policy priority. The energy transition cannot succeed on unstable foundations; the world needs smarter, safer, and fairer mines designed to withstand current and future environmental risks.
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
The consecutive presidencies of Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa within the G20 offers a blueprint for how the Global South can continue shaping global governance at a time of geopolitical uncertainty and a rapid rebalancing of the globalization process itself.
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
In the run up to the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, countries are reevaluating the role of biofuels in supporting efforts to accelerate the clean energy transition, particularly in the transportation sector, which accounts for nearly one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.
By Caroline Arkalji
While India is globally recognized for its highly skilled engineering talent, it lags behind its peers in terms of a large, technically trained labor force needed to attract manufacturing investment at scale. To compete, India must align its technical education more closely with industry needs and emphasize skills critical to modern manufacturing.
By Caroline Arkalji
Policymakers in remittance-dependent nations must consider the broader, long-term effects of U.S. immigration and taxation policies.
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
What is IBSA and how can their consecutive G20 presidencies help further the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on a global scale?
By Caroline Arkalji
How can India’s transition to green energy ensure that new job opportunities are accessible to all workers, especially those in carbon-intensive industries?
By Caroline Arkalji
How are Global South nations tackling the challenges that arise with rapid urbanization?
