Prime Minister Modi’s announcement about India’s pledges at COP26 give us a possible hint of the future. Navroz K. Dubash writes about the net zero pledge, revised targets and their implications on India’s development.
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WHO guidelines are a clear nudge from the health sector towards the deep decarbonisation of our economy necessary to achieve both climate and air pollution goals. Placing public health at the centre of air quality management, coupled with a commitment to accountability and transparency in standard-setting, is the only way to ensure that the goals we set do not remain solely aspirational.
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The recent Working Group 1 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that particulate matter (PM or simply, fine particles) have ‘masked’ the impact of greenhouse gas emissions generated over the last century by about a third. If air pollution mitigation ‘worsens’ global warming, must we rethink pollution controls at all? Not quite.
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The IPCC report indicates that the climate crisis will disrupt India’s developmental future, and undercut the prosperity of its people in the long run.
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A comprehensive climate law with a green vision can serve as the definitive mechanism whereby India’s future is secured in the decades to come.
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The 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.
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How 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?
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Highlights of the webinar discussion held on April 13, 2021 as part of the India Energy Transition Dialogues – a series convened by the Centre for Policy Research to explore different paths to meet India’s 21st century energy goals.
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The Ministry’s new Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for ‘identification and handling of violation cases’ under the EIA Notification 2006 will further undermine our weak environmental regulatory framework, and should be withdrawn by the Ministry immediately.
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‘Let us say that circumstance tossed me on the shores of environmental studies and then, just so, swept me from it. To answer why I have decided now to seek a career in environmental policy, it seems I must first explain what drove me away.’
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In 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.
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Cooling will likely be at the forefront of India’s adaptation to climate change, but if cooling needs are met with inefficient ACs, it could be the bane of India’s mitigation efforts. Indian homes will be an important site where this conundrum between cooling needs and potential emissions will play out.
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The government has taken an important step in prioritising agriculture in the electricity transition. Using the transition as a catalyst for agricultural transformation can address recurring redistributive pressures in electricity, minimise the causes and effects of climate change in agriculture, and secure a resilient rural economy and livelihoods.
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Given the imminent and unavoidable transition away from coal and its likely economic and political consequences, this collective statement by 22 energy experts calls for the government to initiate a deliberative planning process with the participation of concerned interest groups and communities, and based on rigorous and context-specific analysis of economic, social, political and environmental costs and opportunities.
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Forty years ago, India passed the Air Act, 1981- the first central legislation to tackle the air pollution crisis. What has it accomplished over the last four decades? Does the Air Act have enough teeth to deal with the crisis?
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The India Energy Transition Dialogues, a series of curated bi-weekly webinars beginning April 13, will explore different but complementary pathways to meet India’s 21st century energy goals.
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In 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.
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There 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.
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India's urbanising middle class is at the brink of an unprecedented increase in residential cooling demand, yet little is understood about the dynamics of changing cooling consumption. New research by Centre for Policy Research and University of Oxford answers a set of fundamental questions around India's cooling transition.
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In a recent contribution to MIT Technology Review, Dubash highlights the role of institutions in our collective response to climate change.
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