“Adaptation cannot be assumed to be inherently just; it must be intentionally designed to address existing inequities. This requires integrating gender and human rights mandates into national and state climate frameworks, ensuring inclusive governance that empowers women, youth, and marginalised communities in decision-making processes, and investing in gender-disaggregated data, capacity building, and locally led solutions. Embedding these approaches across all levels of governance is essential to making climate adaptation equitable, sustainable, and transformative” – Sony R K spoke at the multi-stakeholder consultation on ‘India’s Pathways to COP30: Advancing Climate Resilience, Equity & Sustainable Development’ organised by Sphere India with ICARS, IIT Roorkee on 24 October 2025.

Rashi Agarwal spoke in the panel ‘Pathways to Careers in Climate & Sustainability’ organised by The Hertie School and Hansraj College, Delhi University, on 29 October 2025. The conversation revolved around the panellists’ personal journeys into the sector, exploring the value of graduate education, discussing the skills and qualifications required, and navigating the evolving sustainability sector.

SFC hosted Shahana Chattaraj, Director of Research at the WRI Centre for Governance and Equity, on 16 October 2025, during which she presented the findings from an exploratory study, titled, ‘Migration and Resilience in a Changing Climate: How migration supports household resilience in climate vulnerable areas in India’, examining migration experiences and resilience outcomes across climate-vulnerable districts and destination cities in 3 Indian states – Gujarat, Odisha, and Kerala. It draws on a ‘climate mobilities’ framework that challenges popular narratives of mass climate-induced cross-border migrations, and seeks to go beyond vulnerability and disaster-risk reduction frameworks to better understand how a changing climate affects migration capabilities, patterns and outcomes in different contexts.

Rashi Agarwal attended the JETNET Annual Conference 2025 organised by the Just Transition Research Centre at IIT Kanpur, in Goa on 7-8 October, where she presented a case study titled, ‘Institutional Governance in Advancing Just Energy Transition: Case of Jharkhand’s Task Force – Sustainable Just Transition’. Developed jointly with Sarada Prasanna Das and Ashwini K Swain from SFC, with inputs from Anjali Patel, this case study assessed the Task Force to reiterate the importance of subnational institutions and governance for a just energy transition in India. Drawing insights from the Task Force for other coal-dependent states undergoing an energy transition, it recommends integrating transition strategies with state climate plans, strengthening institutional capacities and building implementable frameworks for subnational preparedness for energy transition.

“Mapping fiscal and financial instruments across different technology stages is crucial. Policies can’t just be reactive, they need to be sequenced and stable over time to sustain investment and innovation. For sectors like green steel, this sequencing should work in tandem with strong R&D investment, which has no substitute. In India, where industrial decarbonisation will depend on both cost competitiveness and domestic innovation, consistent public support — as seen in China — could be transformative” – Nikita Shukla spoke in the India Green Steel Network (IGSN) Sustainable Finance & Green Industrial Policy Working Group Roundtable, organised by Climate Catalyst, on 9 October 2025.

Ashwini K Swain was a panelist at a discussion on ‘Accelerating Demand-Side Energy Transitions Through Collaborative Governance’ on 2 September at WRI Connect Karo 2025 for People, Nature, and Climate. He highlighted the importance of decentralisation and capacity building of frontline agencies (such as city level agencies) to accelerate India’s energy transition and climate action.