India’s Evolving Climate Change Debate: From Diplomatic Insulation to Policy Integration

How is India engaging the climate change challenge? This introductory chapter in ‘India in a Warming World: Integrating Climate Change and Development’, Oxford University Press, explains the changing context for climate change debates in India, from one focused on diplomatic concerns of equity and responsibility for the problem, to one equally concerned with understanding its development implications. The chapter lays out the rationale for why the book examines climate change impacts, negotiations, politics, policies and integration across sectors, briefly discussing key themes. It ends with four overarching messages on the contours of the Indian climate debate.