Policy Brief

Giving back to affected communities with mining revenues

20 Dec 2018
| Ms Joyita Ghose

District Mineral Foundations present an opportunity to benefit communities bearing the socio-economic, environmental impacts of mining operations

India's ambition is substantial in social, political and environmental terms: Key messages from India's NDC

07 Dec 2018
| Mr Karan Mangotra

India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) must be seen in a holistic manner, the aim being to achieve sustainable development within the framework of 8 quantitative and qualitative NDCs. India's plan as per its quantified NDC targets is to: lower emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35% compared to 2005 levels by 2030; increase total cumulative electricity generation from fossil free energy sources to 40% by 2030; create additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons through additional forest and tree cover. With total annual emissions of 1,884.3 million tons of CO2

'India can manage a progressive transition from coal to renewables'

04 Dec 2018
| Mr Thomas Spencer
| Mr Raghav Pachouri
| Mr G Renjith
| Ms Sachi Vohra

In the coal vs renewables question in India, a more flexible power system can help manage a progressive transition, according to TERI's new discussion paper 'Coal Transition in India'

Aligning India's water resource policies with the SDGs

06 Nov 2018
| Dr Girija K Bharat
| Mr Nathaniel B Dkhar

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries. The SDGs recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change.

Loss and Damage: The Gradual Progression and the Road Ahead

31 Oct 2018
| Ms Kavya Bajaj

Loss and damage, in the context of climate change, is associated with the particular impacts of climate change in developing countries vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, such as sea level rise and extreme weather events. In this article, Kavya Bajaj helps us understand the milestone developments that have taken place in various climate conferences regarding this controversial mechanism.

Making Liveable Cities: Challenges and Way Forward for India

25 Oct 2018
| Ms Raina Singh
| Ms Adishree Panda
| Ms Palak Thakur

More than 40% of India's population is expected to reside in its urban centres by 2050 (UNDESA, 2014). While these rapidly expanding urban centres in India are seen as the engines of economic growth, they also face tremendous pressures on their civic infrastructure systems and issues of environmental degradation, air pollution, and increasing frequency of climate-induced events and disasters. It is, thus, now critical to relook at the ways in which we manage these challenges for enhancing the liveability of cities.

Greening the solar PV value chain

07 Sep 2018
| Mr Nitish Arora
| Mr Souvik Bhattacharjya
| Dr Shilpi Kapur
| Dr Manish Anand
| Ms Astha Gupta
| Mr N S Prasad
| Mr Nitya Nanda
| Ms Diya Dasgupta

A report on opportunities for resource saving along the value chain in the solar PV sector In 2010, India launched the renewable energy programme 'Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)', with the objective of deploying 20,000 mega watt (MW) of solar power by 2022. This target was revised to 100,000 MW of which 60,000 MW has to be grid connected and 40,000 MW has to be rooftop solar. This will require supply and use of newer materials to manufacture different solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies while maintaining cost competiveness in the sector. Resource efficiency will be key in achieving these objectives.

Towards resource efficient electric vehicle sector in India

07 Sep 2018
| Mr Souvik Bhattacharjya
| Mr Nitish Arora
| Dr Shilpi Kapur
| Ms Garima Jasuja

A report on resource efficiency in India's EV sector In 2017, India announced its plans of going 100% electric by 2030 as a part of its larger commitments of COP21. Indian automobile industry has been growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.4% from FY12-17, and absolute annual production is expected to reach 50 million in next 15 years from 25.3 million in 2017. With transportation sector accounting for 22% of world’s greenhouse gas emissions, this growth should take place in a sustainable manner, which is adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) for mobility.

Kerosene to solar PV subsidy swap: The business case for redirecting subsidy expenditure from kerosene to off-grid solar

21 Aug 2018
| Ms Bigsna Gill
| Mr Martand Shardul
| Shruti Sharma
| Richard Bridle

An exploration of the idea of gradually moving from subsidies on kerosene to investing in off-grid solar technologies for marginalised households

Linking Carbon Markets: A case study of India's PAT and REC Schemes

31 Jul 2018
| Ms Tamiksha Singh
| Mr Karan Mangotra
| Swati Agarwal

Following the enactment of the Paris Agreement, the carbon markets in national and international spheres are poised for revival. Although the global carbon market dependent on the Kyoto Protocol have nearly collapsed, many voluntary or national carbon markets are still functioning in several countries under relevant regulations or voluntary arrangements. These include markets and trading systems such as Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) and Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) in India. One of the key questions emerging from the Paris Agreement is how such existing markets are to be integrated with the cooperative mechanisms to be evolved under Article 6 of the Agreement.