The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted our first Flagship event of 2023 – a discussion between Ram Madhav, Founding Member, Governing Council, India Foundation, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Distinguished Fellow, CSEP and former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, on “Managing Climate Change: A Strategy for India”. The discussion was moderated by Rakesh Mohan, President and Distinguished Fellow, CSEP. 

The event took place on Monday, 23 January, 2023 from 3.00-5.00 pm IST at the Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road.

About the event:

At the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, India announced its ambition to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2070. The new position reflected an acknowledgment of the seriousness of the problem of global warming highlighted by the IPCC, which warned that if nothing was done, global warming was likely to reach at least +2.8°C by the end of the century and this would have very negative effects on all countries, with the developing countries being the worst affected. Meanwhile, developments in technology present new opportunities making it possible to meet the growing energy demand from renewables, thus effectively decoupling emissions and economic growth. Both factors were important in influencing India’s position at COP26.

This discussion deliberated on the challenges India will face in implementing its Net Zero commitment. The picture that emerges is that there is considerable scope for reducing the volume of emissions over time through a combination of actions aimed at increasing energy efficiency, switching from direct use of fossil fuel to electricity, and shifting progressively to RE to meet the electricity demand. Multiple inter-related interventions are needed across several sectors to achieve this transition. The multiplicity of interventions highlights the need for coordination across different ministries, different levels of government (centre, states, and cities) and also the private sector.

Speakers:

• Ram Madhav

Ram Madhav is an Indian politician, social leader, author and thinker. He is a Founding Member of the Governing Council of India Foundation (IF), a New Delhi-based think tank. In over a decade of India Foundation’s existence, he has been the curator of major annual global and national multilateral initiatives like the Indian Ocean Conference, the Dharma-Dhamma Conference, ASEAN-India Youth Summit and Counter Terrorism Conference involving heads of nations and leaders of governments besides academics, scholars and public spirited individuals. Most recently, he has been instrumental in ideating the Religion-20 Forum (R20) as part of India’s presidency of the G20. Previously, he has served as the National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during 2014-20.

• Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Montek Singh Ahluwalia is a Distinguished Fellow at CSEP and has been a notable figure in Indian economic reforms from the early 1980s onwards. He has previously served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and as the first director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF. He has written extensively on various aspects of development economics and is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award for public service. He is the author of Backstage: The Story Behind India’s High Growth Years (2020).

Moderator

• Rakesh Mohan

Rakesh Mohan is President and Distinguished Fellow at CSEP. He is a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Previously, he was Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University, Professor at Yale’s School of Management, and Distinguished Consulting Professor at Stanford University. Closely associated with the Indian economic reforms process since the late 1980s, he has served in senior roles including as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Secretary, Economic Affairs, Chief Economic Adviser of the Indian Ministry of Finance, and Economic Adviser in the Indian Ministry of Industry. He has authored books on urban economics, urban development, monetary policy, and economic reforms.

Please contact Trishna Wahengbam at TWahengbam@csep.org for event-related or media inquiries.

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.