Report Launch: Powering Development in Climate Vulnerable Areas

WRI India is launching its report on ‘Powering Development in Climate Vulnerable Areas: The Role of Decentralized Solar Solutions in India’ on 20 April. Please join us for the report launch and panel discussion at 5 PM IST.

Watch the full event here

Poor access to electricity has an impact on socio-economic development outcomes across communities, but the impact is amplified for vulnerable communities residing in rural areas. In such areas, extreme events characteristic of climate change are affecting grid infrastructure leading to grid failures and power cuts. Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions and especially solar PV can play an important role in providing affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity supply for development and economic activities in climate-vulnerable regions.

With a reduction in prices and a favourable policy environment, more schools, PHCs, drinking water schemes and farmer groups are adopting solar PV powered electricity solutions across the country. But DRE installations are not immune to climate impacts - and hence the interventions need to be planned with certain technological, organizational and financial considerations in mind to ensure their sustainability in climate-vulnerable areas.

This WRI report is a first in the empirical research domain on assessing the impacts of climate change on DRE solutions in rural areas. The report is a compilation of case studies where solar PV installations have helped achieve development outcomes in health, education and livelihood sectors with a focus on climate-vulnerable areas.

The report provides a framework for designing, implementing and maintaining solar PV powered electricity solutions to overcome the future impacts of climate change and to continue to enhance development outcomes. It will help DRE enterprises, investors, think tanks and policymakers to review and address the issue of DRE climate resilience.

Climate resilience of energy infrastructure has implications for all sectors such as health, education, water supply, livelihoods, renewable energy (to name a few), and would be of interest to the state and central ministries and international organizations working at the intersection of climate change, renewable energy and development.

SPEAKERS

• OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India
• Stephanie Jones, Programme Manager, Good Energies Foundation
• Ashok Khosla, Chairman, Development Alternatives Group & Board Member, WRI India
• Harsha Meenawat, Senior Research Specialist, Energy Program, WRI India
• Rekha Krishnan, Founder and Managing Partner, WEFT Research
• Namrata Ginoya, Manager, Resilience & Energy Access, WRI India
• Vijay Bhaskar, Managing Director, Humara Grid
• Jennifer Layke, Global Director, Energy Program, WRI
• Bharath Jairaj, Director, Energy Program, WRI India