Blogs

Improperly planned cities adversely impact the economy and the environment with the most vulnerable facing the brunt of the outfall. Extreme weather events and climate hazards are experienced very differently by different people and communities, depending on a range of social, economic, political and cultural factors. Research shows that historically marginalized communities like women, minorities, certain castes and classes, and marginal farmers, are much more likely...

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently launched Mumbai's first-ever climate budget for the year 2024-25. This makes it the first urban local body in the country and fourth globally, after Oslo, New York and London, to have launched a climate budget. While Mumbai, has been expanding and institutionalizing their...

India’s journey towards a sustainable energy transition is gaining momentum; however, it is crucial to ensure that vulnerable states and regions are not left behind. Frequented by floods, earthquakes and landslides, the state of Assam is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. According to a 2021 report, 24 of its 27 districts were classified as vulnerable to climate change. As of July 8 this year, 72 people have...

Air pollution is a major environmental and health concern globally. In India, 1.67 million deaths were attributed to air pollution in 2019. Various sources such as vehicular and industrial emissions, dust from construction and roads, and open waste burning contribute to air quality deterioration.

Municipal solid waste burning contributes significantly to air pollution, releasing harmful particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM 10), carbon monoxide and other non-methane,...

Industries around the world are increasingly undertaking climate change mitigation by reducing the carbon footprint of their operations and supply chains. However, many climate change impacts are inevitable and add to the vulnerability of industries, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). MSMEs contribute 29% to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employ over 110 million workers and play a crucial role in shaping the country’s social and economic landscape. Their vulnerability to...

India is the world’s fifth largest and fastest growing economy. Its energy demand is likely to account for a quarter of the global energy demand over the next 20 years. The state of Jharkhand, the powerhouse of the country for the last few decades, faces significant reliance on coal-related incomes. As it faces the intertwined challenges of climate change and...

In December 2023, the floods in Chennai and neighboring districts of Tamil Nadu wreaked havoc on the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people. However, Tamil Nadu is not the only state to be impacted by the rising hazards of climate change. Cities across India continue to grapple with the crisis. By 2030, 40.76% of India’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. To meet this pace of urbanization, a lot more public infrastructure will have to be added to our cities. As...

Socio-economic development and human well-being are intrinsically linked to shifts in energy access. Of the 169 targets set under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, 125 are linked to energy access. Global electricity access improved from 84% in 2010 to 91% in 2021. Since 2017 near-universal access to electricity has been provided to 2.63 crore households across India. In Nagaland, 1,32,507 of 5,23,870 households have...

Last year’s Conference of Parties (COP28) at Dubai failed to deliver on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which governs carbon markets. Article 6 allows countries to meet their climate targets by trading carbon credits earned from the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Even after two weeks of negotiations, the 197 participating nations in Dubai were unable to reach consensus on the rules governing carbon markets.

Almost...

Srikant Narayanan* is a second-generation owner of a small auto component manufacturing unit in Ambattur Industrial Estate, in Chennai’s automotive manufacturing hub. The estate has about 2000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), of which 600-800 are micro units, more than a thousand are small units, and only 10-15 are medium units. Most of his workers travel to Ambattur from other parts of Chennai and from neighboring...