Opinions

Adaptation and Resilience

“The risks of the future are likely to be so severe, frequent and interconnected that they will require proactively identifying and tackling risk, girding the system for a state of permanent tumult, and relying on all-of-government coordination. The governance of extreme heat seems to be in that process of transition with commonly seen short-term actions across multiple departments, but limited preparation for the future”. Aditya Valiathan Pillai, Tamanna Dalal, and Ishan Kukreti, write in The Indian Express about our new report that assesses India’s preparedness for extreme heat.

Opinions

Adaptation and Resilience

“Adapting to increasing extreme heat will be central to urban living for decades to come. A late start to these efforts will increase pressure on the state in the future and risks exposing citizens to harms from warming that could be avoided.” Aditya V Pillai, Tamanna Dalal, Ishan Kukreti, Alexandra Kassinis, Lucas Vargas Zeppetello, Escandita Tewari, and Navroz Dubash write in Carbon Brief article about our new report that assesses India’s readiness for extreme heat.

Reports

Adaptation and Resilience

This report assesses India’s readiness for the extreme heat of a +1.5 degree world. It examines the implementation of extreme heat policies in 9 major Indian cities — Bengaluru, Delhi, Faridabad, Gwalior, Kota, Ludhiana, Meerut, Mumbai, and Surat — which are among the most at risk from future heat (as per our climate models), collectively covering over 11% of India’s urban population. This is the first systematic multi-city analysis of heat action implementation in India.

Journal articles

Climate Policy

Energy Transitions

This collaborative article by experts from 24 Indian institutions explores India’s path to net zero by 2070 through 3 broad dimensions - ‘national and sub-national perspectives’, ‘sectoral and technological transitions’ and ‘enablers’. Aditya Valiathan Pillai wrote on climate institutions as a key enabler in the process. He examines how India has performed in building climate institutions, the challenges that lie in building them, and how we can create an effective institutional structure that differs from ones in countries that are past their emissions peak.

Books and book chapters

Climate Policy

Transforming towards a low-carbon, climate-resilient society will require reimagining existing governance arrangements. This chapter in 'The Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Natural Resources Law in India' documents how India’s policies, institutions, and legal structures have changed in response to climate change.

Opinions

Climate Policy

Authors lay out an institutional vision for India’s climate law - knowledge-based ‘low-carbon development commission’; ‘climate cabinet’ to drive strategy; executive coordination body; and mechanisms for federal engagement.

Opinions

Climate Policy

Because India is still developing, is highly vulnerable, and yet to build much of its infrastructure, what the country needs is a law that enables progress toward both low-carbon and climate resilient development.

Opinions

Adaptation and Resilience

Climate won’t be a major issue in India’s upcoming six-week-long national election, unlike in Australia, the UK, and US, where elections can hinge on climate policy positions. But it will shape Indian elections in definitive but under-the-radar ways.

SFC Perspectives

Adaptation and Resilience

Climate Policy

Energy Transitions

Environmental Governance and Policy

SFC Perspectives are intended to stimulate discussion by providing an overview of key issues and avenues for action to inform India's sustainable development trajectory.