The Union Budget of 2022-23 promises to take issues of sustainability and climate change seriously. And indeed, its framing on these issues is promising and forward looking. A look below the hood of the budget, however, presents, in practice, a far more mixed picture.
Read MoreThe recent IPCC report signals the urgent need for India, as others, to consider a climate law. However, an enabling law that cradles research and prompts investment in green technology might be far more effective in securing India’s long-term economic prosperity than a hastily enacted net-zero or carbon-capping law, which might prove ineffective, unenforceable, or debilitating.
Read MoreHow can states be enabled to transition toward climate-resilient and low-carbon societies? How can they be empowered to experiment and learn from each other? Which mechanisms will enable slow-moving states to catch up with those taking climate consequences more seriously?
Read MoreIn addition to targets and policies, India needs to deepen and enhance systems of governance for the climate crisis, which include dedicated organisations, policy frameworks, capacities, and financing mechanisms. In a new policy brief, we lay out an institutional architecture capable of crafting such low-carbon development pathways.
Read MoreIn India, a focus on development pathways requires three steps: sectoral transition plans for key areas of the economy; strong institutions for climate governance; and economy-wide targets that emphasise near-term actions.
Read MoreThere is a real risk net-zero by 2050 will be a hollow pledge that will only serve diplomatic needs, but do little to actually shift India’s emissions future. Instead, India needs a path that shows how a focus on opportunities for low-carbon development is more likely, in practice, to deliver emissions reductions than abstract future 2050 pledges.
Read MoreStates making net zero commitments throws open the possibility of new institutions that quickly funnel economies into low-carbon trajectories. So could these carbon regulators become the central banks of the future?
Read MoreWe should be careful not to drag ourselves through one crisis only to emerge into another longer, less predictable, and unstoppable one.
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