Policy Brief

Fleet Modernization: A solution to achieve better air quality

10 Dec 2019
| Ms Shivani Sharma
| Dr Anju Goel
| Mr Souvik Bhattacharjya
| Ms Mani Juneja
| Mr Nitin Bajpai
| Dr Sumit Sharma

India's transport demand has grown from a total of 5.3 million in 1981 to 230 million in 2016, with two-wheelers and cars having 73% and 14% share, respectively. Commercial vehicles though constitute only about 5% of the total fleet, contribute to nearly 80% of total PM emissions. Phase-wise implementation of fleet modernization (transforming pre BS-IV commercial vehicles to BS-VI) would lead to a 40-80% reduction in PM and NOx emissions from the sector by 2025. The total number of avoided mortality from attributable to PM5 reduction from fleet modernization between 2020 and 2040 is estimated to be more than 500,000.

Opportunities with Biofuel: Co-benefit of Air Quality Improvement

05 Dec 2019
| TERI
| Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland
| Tampere University, Finland

While biofuels have been discussed as one of the ways to reduce air pollution, changing the process of bio-diesel production is needed to reduce tailpipe emissions of nanoparticles. These are lesser known pollutants even more harmful than PM2.5 and PM10.

Nutrient pollution in the South Asia Seas (SAS)

03 Dec 2019
| Ms Mrinal Mathur

Anthropogenic activities like (i) agriculture fertilisers, (ii) coastal pisciculture, (i) sewage discharge, (iv) industrial activity, (v) burning fossil fuels and (vi) effluents from ports increase nutrients in surface water and seas. Nitrate pollution is largely caused by agriculture run-off, discharge from industry and manure or sewage. Phosphate pollution is tied to improper treatment of detergents in wastewater and from agro-fertilisers. These land-based pollutants make their way to coastal waters through networks of rivers and streams and cause nutrient pollution in the marine environment.

Discussion Paper on Clean Development Mechanism as Catalyst for Sustainable Development Mechanism Under Article 6.4

27 Nov 2019
| Mr R R Rashmi
| Ms Ritu Ahuja

Our analysis highlights the necessity of undertaking a full transition of unused certified emission reductions (CERs) from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in order to create a trust in the international processes and the market mechanisms.

Discussion Paper on Article 6 – State of Play

27 Nov 2019
| Ms Tamiksha Singh
| Ms Ritu Ahuja

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement focuses on a framework for countries to voluntarily cooperate using market and non-market based approaches to raise ambition, thus providing an opening for carbon markets in the post-2020 regime.

Institutional Readiness to Implement the Enhanced Transparency Framework: Is India Ready?

22 Nov 2019
| Ms Vani Rijhwani

The idea of transparency for reporting and reviewing information on climate policies and measures taken by Parties has emerged as one of the key elements gaining attention and weight under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The transparency framework has been evolving in detail and complexity aimed at maximizing mutual confidence between Parties while ensuring that the Parties are not unduly stretched beyond their capacities.

Climate change impacts on Himalayan glaciers and implications on energy security of India

08 Nov 2019
| Dr Shresth Tayal

Understanding India's electricity sector transition to renewables

04 Oct 2019
| Mr Thomas Spencer

An overview of the emerging transition of the Indian power sector to higher share of renewable energy

Decarbonisation of Indian industry: Transitioning to a cleaner economy

03 Oct 2019
| Mr William Patrick Hall

The paper looks at the need for Indian industry to transition to resource efficient, sustainable and low-carbon production, especially in hard-to-abate sectors

Exploration and Mining in India: Time for a deeper look

09 Sep 2019
| Mr S Vijay Kumar

Exploration needs to be strongly incentivised using the private sector's risk taking ability if we are to find all the minerals we need for our development