Publications : All
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Overview of Climate-Economy and Energy System Models
Mathematical modelling programmes have become indispensable in climate science and policy research, their applications and accessibility need to be highlighted.A Medium-Term Strategy for Transitioning to Net Zero by 2070
This paper assesses the feasibility of India achieving its stated goal of net zero by 2070 and presents a medium-term strategy for what would be required over the next decade to achieve this objective.An Overview of Climate-Economy and Energy System Models
The paper outlines the technical attributes and features of the mathematical modelling programs, such as sectoral coverage, economic growth assumptions, modelling algorithms, optimisation methods, etc., with an emphasis on the usability and scalability of the models.Achieving Catalytic Impact with the Resilience and Sustainability Trust
A new policy brief from the Task Force on Climate, Development and the IMF seeks to improve the RST’s design by taking stock of the early experiences of RST programs.Developing World Must Raise Own Climate Finance
Developed countries and MDBs can raise just a third of the requirement. Carbon pricing and ETS will have to play a bigger role.Even Under Capitalism, There is Hope for Climate Change Solutions
Vikram Singh Mehta reviews the book book Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions by Akshat Rathi.India’s Energy Transition
Laveesh Bhandari and Rajat Verma examine the fiscal implications that are to be borne in mind to arrive at equilibrium in the taxes.Three’s not a Crowd for Improved Climate Action
Pooja Ramamurthi argue that partnerships with bridging powers are increasingly vital to unpicking North-South gridlocks and effective climate cooperation.Examining the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Issues and Challenges
Effective implementation of the CCTS will enable Indian enterprises to demonstrate their commitment to low-carbon production processes using green technologies, which can reduce CBAM costs and expand green energy-intensive export opportunities in the EU market.This is What’s Slowing Down the Clean Energy Transition
With Big Oil's 2050 forecast that places oil and gas at the centre of energy basket, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve net-zero carbon emissions targetsIndia’s Climate Diplomacy: New Priorities and Policy Options
This Policy Brief explores how India has transformed into a positive force on the global stage, achieving domestic climate targets and spearheading innovative approaches in climate diplomacy.Interview | Does India Need a Climate Change Resilience Authority?
India is experiencing extreme weather conditions. Is it time for a climate change resilience authority?Was CoP-28 a Cop-out or Did the Conference Achieve Something?
CoP meetings have routinely talked of the need for a fair and just transition, consistent with the principles of "common but differentiated responsibilities" but they never discussed how to apply it in practice.Simulating the Socio-Economy-Environment Impacts of Ecotaxes in India: An...
Pricing carbon, either directly or indirectly, provides a price incentive to producers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is important to examine the impact of such governmental policies on the economy, emissions, and particularly households, who will bear the incidence of such taxes.Podcast | COP28: Spotlight On Indian Climate Diplomacy
In the last one decade, India has cast itself as being part of the climate solution—which in turn has created the space for diplomatic negotiations.Assessing the Impact of CBAM on EITE Industries in India
This research specifically focuses on the uncertainties surrounding the potential impact of CBAM on trade-exposed sectors with high energy intensity, particularly in developing countries like India.The Poor Should Control Carbon Emissions, But the Rich Must Eliminate Them
If the world must achieve zero emissions by 2050, it’s impractical and unfair to require all countries to reach that goal simultaneously.Climate Diplomacy Must Begin at Home
It is now time to invest in a strategic capacity so that India's climate diplomacy is better equipped to transform prevailing climate commitments into action.Developing an Environmentally-extended Social Accounting Matrix for India...
This study tackles the existing research and data gaps regarding pollution generation by incorporating sector-specific data from India’s greenhouse gas inventory.A Cap-and-Trade System will Help Slash Emissions More Efficiently
A key feature of a cap-and-trade system must be a steady reduction in allowances per unit of output over time, calibrated to the net-zero target, write Montek Singh Ahulwalia and Utkarsh Patel.India’s Global Climate Strategy
India’s progress in driving the need for climate mitigation and adaptation has been commendable and swift. A key question is whether results in terms of reduced carbon emissions will arrive.Tracks to Transition: India’s Global Climate Strategy
An increasingly competitive geopolitical context is fragmenting global climate governance and traditional modes of multilateral cooperation. The report maps both what has been done in the past as well as the avenues towards a comprehensive climate strategy built on greater policy coordination and expanded state capacity for India to engage externally.Safeguarding Decades of Development: The International Monetary Fund’s...
The policy brief from the Task Force on Climate, Development and the IMF proposes a ‘loss and damage package’ at the IMF that spans its surveillance, lending toolkit and global policy coordination.Harnessing Private Capital for Global Public Goods: Issues, Challenges and...
Gulzar Natarajan and V Anantha Nageswaran make the case that poverty alleviation, growth, and climate-related transition, which require both public and private funds, need to be pursued in parallel.Non-Price Policies for Addressing Climate Change: The Global Experience
Renu Kohli, Honey Karun and Saumya analyse the non-price policy measures that aim to lower carbon emissions across the G20 countries.Current Green Transition Solutions Disregard Social and Political...
Institutions have to be built that facilitate global cooperation, skill development and technology transfer and also enable the mediation of the domestic and international conflicts that have been inevitably aroused.Environment Policy Needs Federalism to Play a Big Role
How well central and state-level administrations coordinate climate action will determine key outcomes, writes Anoop Singh.The Climate Crisis: What is the Global Way Out?
In the ‘era of global boiling’, challenge can only be met if we act in political, economic, financial concert, says Vikram Singh Mehta.India is Adapting to the Shifting Climate Terrain
India has a unique opportunity to use the G20 presidency to drive climate cooperation as crises abound and the desire for deep climate action is dwindling.Interview | Govt Listens When Think Tanks Talk. They are Growing in Clout...
India's aspiration to become a global climate leader is getting a boost from an expanding ecosystem of homegrown policy and research institutes. Here are 10, new and old. | An interview with Laveesh BhandariMapping the Climate Transition by Identifying Policy Interventions
RBI’s report lays down a buffet of choices. Policymakers must now pick what is nutritious but also conforms to political taste.The IMF’s Turn to Lead on Climate
While the International Monetary Fund has made great strides on climate change in a short time, emerging markets and developing economies need resources to invest in resilience more urgently than ever.India has Big Clean Energy Goals – So Why is it Banking on Coal?
India's renewables targets, while ambitious, will still not be enough to meet rising power demand, comments Rahul Tongia.Podcast | Path to Climate Justice in a Net Zero World | ft. Tejal Kanitkar...
In this India Energy Hour podcast episode, Rahul Tongia discusses how we can design equitable models for climate action.Does Nuclear Power have a Role in our Climate Change Strategy?
Yes, nuclear power has a role in climate change strategy, but we will have to rethink several aspects of our current policy on this form of energy before it can meet its promise.Interview | Growth Of Renewable Energy High In India, But Pace Not Enough
The lesson for us is that our supply system must be sufficient and flexible to allow such new technology to come in. And that raises another set of issues: Montek Singh Ahluwalia tells NDTV.India’s Fossil Fuel Lessons for Net Zero
As the transition to clean energy becomes imperative, India’s tryst with hydrocarbons can offer a roadmap of what not to do.Where’s the Capital for Climate?
At COP26, the PM set a clear target that India, with the help of global investment, will achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070. For this it will undertake actions such as greater use of renewable energy, reduced energy intensity, etc. It's a tough task, but the process is on and ...India’s Transition to Green Energy will have a Significant Impact on...
Another effect of the energy transition that needs to be considered is the impact on employment; in some states, a significant proportion of the people are engaged in coal mining. The effect on employment may not be severe but it will be challenging because it is concentrated in a few states.The Path to Decarbonisation in the Wake of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Against this international backdrop, India must pivot the needle of its energy compass towards short-term energy security and long-term decarbonisation. Irrespective of who is to blame for global warming, India cannot afford to develop first and clean up later.Climate Change, Weather Anomalies, and Agriculture: Impact on Output of...
The paper finds that the availability of greater data makes it possible to assess a large set of crops over a long period of time, and therefore, greater data points can yield highly robust results.Four Steps to Make India’s Energy Transition Less Painful
India must make a fiscal transition alongside the energy transition. Here's how it could make a start.Inequality in Air Pollution Mortality from Power Generation in India
Abstract India’s coal-heavy electricity system is the world’s third largest and a major emitter of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, it remains a focus of decarbonisation and air pollution control policy. Considerable heterogeneity exists between states in India in terms of electricity demand, generation fuel mix, and emissions. However, no ...COP27: Joining the dots between Binsar and Sharm El-Sheikh
To resolve the environment-development conflict, begin with local initiatives that can be scaled-up and provided market access through support of government and collaborative linkages with corporates, NGOs and specialists, writes Vikram Singh Mehta.Was COP27 a Cop-Out?
The loss-and-damage fund is welcome but other vital issues were left hanging. India’s G20 presidency may help us find clarity.Podcast | Are Current Climate Initiatives Unfair to Developing Nations?
Rahul Tongia speaks to Kai Ryssdal of NPR Marketplace about how current climate initiatives are unfair towards developing nations.Green Cess Needs a Makeover
A graded form of an ecological tax must be levied on the value of outputs of sectors that are polluting, write Rajat Verma and Ganesh Sivamani.It is Unfair to Push Poor Countries to Reach Zero Carbon Emissions too...
Rahul Tongia argues about the need to shift the conversation from futuristic Net-Zero ambitions toward practical and equitable emissions trajectories in this year's COP.Critical Challenges in Realising the Energy Transition: An Overview of...
Laveesh Bhandari and Aasheerwad Dwivedi's paper studies three of the many challenges that state governments will face as India transitions away from a fossil fuel–driven economy.Nature Contributes to Economic Prosperity and Well-Being
Experts emphasize that while a statistic such as GDP does a good job of showing the value of goods and services exchanged in markets, it does not reflect the dependency of the economy on nature, nor its impacts on nature, such as the deterioration of water quality or the loss of a ...Financing Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Developing Countries
Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Utkarsh Patel's paper attempts to quantify the scale and possible composition of international financial assistance that might be required to help developing countries fulfil the commitments undertaken in COP26.Modelling the Impact of the Clean Environment Cess: A Hybrid Energy...
Rajat Verma and Ganesh Sivamani's paper seeks to measure the impact of this cess on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the gross domestic product (GDP) at both the sectoral and national levels.India’s Energy and Fiscal Transition
Laveesh Bhandari and Aasheerwad Dwivedi's paper looks at India’s expected energy transition towards a low-carbon future, and studies how government revenues from fossil fuels will be affected over the next two decades.Managing Climate Change: A Strategy for India
Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Utkarsh Patel's study shows that there is considerable scope for reducing the volume of emissions through a combination of actions aimed at increasing energy efficiency and shifting progressively to renewable energy to meet the electricity demand.India needs climate action targets for next 10 years
A 10-year-plan will help increase public consciousness and generate a public debate on aspects of the strategy that may seem contentious, write Montek S Ahluwalia and Utkarsh Patel in MintThe Future of Climate and Development
CSEP President and Distinguished Fellow Rakesh Mohan at the Future of Climate & Development, hosted by the Task Force on Climate, Development and the International Monetary Fund.The Ukraine Conflict has Raked up Old Dilemmas
Vikram S Mehta writes: Issues related to energy security, climate change mitigation have been brought to the forefront.जलवायु बिगड़ने के साथ भारत का...
भारत में जलवायु परिवर्तन के कारण हो रही घटनाओं को अब ‘अप्रत्याशित’ नहीं कहा जा सकता है इसलिए सरकार को उनके लिए वैकल्पिक तरीकों के साथ तैयार होना पड़ेगा.Power Sector must Brace for Trouble as Climate Worsens
India can no longer label extreme climate events as ‘unforeseeable’. The Union govt must prepare for them with alternate approaches.A Hybrid Energy Input-Output Table for India
Rajesh Chadha and Ganesh Sivamani's paper details the construction of India’s hybrid Energy Input-Output Table 2015-16, which has information on the monetary, energy, and emission flows of the economy.Coping with Fiscal Effects of Energy Transition
CSEP scholars Laveesh Bhandari and Asheerwad Dwivedi analyse how governments’ (both Centre and State) revenue from coal, oil and natural gas, will be affected over the next two decades as India shifts toward renewable energy sources.Climate Change Policy for Developing Countries
The paper attempts to take stock of what has been achieved in the COP-26 meetings held in Glasgow in November 2021 and suggest the course of action that developed countries should follow in subsequent negotiations.We Need Wardens in Our Eco Parks
Take the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It is assigned the task of monitoring air and water quality, and to also check commercial or industrial units that may pollute them. It is also allocated the task of supporting State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), which carry out the monitoring, permitting and enforcing functions ...Wanted: New leaders to tackle climate change challenge
COP 27 should be led by a collective of experts, who can accelerate the implementation of the action plan towards Net Zero, says Vikram Singh Mehta.Reforming Electricity Distribution in India: Understanding Delicensing and...
The changes being proposed by the government for delicensing distribution and allowing multiple discoms in the same geographical area are unlikely to solve the problems in the power sector, particularly regarding the poor financial health of discoms.India Needs a Coordinated Approach for Decarbonisation of Economy
Long-term planning process must be changed and an autonomous, credible agency must provide independent advice, monitor progress.Does the Glasgow Pact Make Climate Finance Available to Us?
We must push hard for funds at next year’s CoP and do what’s possible at home to enhance flows of capital into green projects.The Glasgow Summit on Climate Change: What Has it Achieved?
A promising start on emissions reduction, but big emitters must do more and India needs to work out a detailed plan of action.Why India needs a Ministry of Energy
It would not alter the existing roles and responsibilities of the various ministries that oversee petroleum, coal, renewables and power, but would identify and handle all of the issues that currently fall between the cracks created by the existing structure.Net Zero: Pledges Are Not Enough
There are several problems with the so-called 'carbon neutrality' pledges. These can only be understood properly if they are accompanied by details and given tight accounting norms.Long-Term Goal-Setting and Planning for Decarbonising the Indian Power...
It is important that the approach used in India for setting and implementation of targets pays attention to, not only environmental impacts, but also the affordability of electricity, and reliability of the power system.Net Zero Carbon Pledges Have Good Intentions. But They are Not Enough.
Reaching zero is important, but there is no universal consensus on when the date of net zero should be. The “sooner the better” remains a common refrain.Ahead of CoP 26 Meet: A Negotiation Strategy
The right approach is for each country to focus not on the net zero date but to indicate its emissions reduction trajectory consistent with its development imperatives.The Inside Story of India’s Coal and Power Crises
Simple arithmetic will show that power plants consumed more coal than they received, but given that generation wasn’t exceptionally high, does this mean the problem was supply?Getting to Net Zero: An Approach for India at CoP-26
The best short-term target India could offer would be a planned phasing out of coal based power generation.Flatten-the-curve: Why total carbon emissions matter much more than...
Becoming zero is important, but “date of net-zero” is incomplete, lacking any measure of what the date should be. “Sooner is better” remains a motherhood statement.Balancing India’s electricity grid in 2030: A detailed, granular...
India has some of the most aggressive RE targets in the world. How can we offer solutions to balance the electricity grid and osupply and demand?Check green damage: India needs to strengthen environmental assessments
Comprehensive Environment Impact Assessments (EIA) are essential to determine the project’s benefits and externalitiesIndia’s road to clean energy goes via natural gas
Decarbonisation is the endgame, but India must first ‘green’ its fossil fuel energy basket by increasing the share of natural gasWhy India needs a plan for climate talks
Irrespective of the direction in which climate talks move, India must announce a national target for phasing down coal-based generation of electricity.Challenges for natural gas to become India’s bridge fuel: Economics,...
This paper examines the possibilities for natural gas in India’s energy mix, both through the lens of competitive economic viability as well as the impact its use might have, notably, on carbon emissions.COVID-19 is an opportunity to clean up India’s coal power plants
The arrival of COVID-19 in India led to a lockdown requiring 1.3 billion people to stay at home. Economic activity, at least in the first two versions of the lockdown, almost came to a standstill. By many standards, this was the world’s strictest lockdown. Total demand of grid electricity between March 25 ...District Mineral Foundation funds can help COVID-19 hit mining areas
The Prime Minister of India held a meeting on April 30, 2020 to consider reforms in the mines and coal sector to jump-start the Indian economy in the backdrop of COVID-19. The mining sector, which is a primary supplier of raw materials to the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, is being considered to ...Utilising District Mineral Foundation funds to fight the COVID-19 crisis...
In wake the of the growing COVID-19 crisis and the strain on healthcare resources, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 announced that District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds can be used by state governments to augment healthcare. This includes supplementing healthcare facilities, screening and testing requirements, and any other support that ...Insights from the Brookings India Electricity and Carbon Tracker
Brookings India launched the Electricity and Carbon Tracker, a first-of-its-kind near real-time tracker of electricity generation by type of source as well as electricity carbon emissions at an all-India level. With high resolution data, we can now do a Time of Day (ToD) level analysis of India’s power generation system. The tracker ...India 2024: A green India
India faces a variety of challenges related to energy and the environment. Here are several initiatives that the next government could contemplate early on in its term. Integrate Energy and Environmental Policy The various ministries currently engaged with energy and the environment should be collapsed into one omnibus Ministry of Energy and ...India 2024: A sustainable India
How things change in five years. We have seen many positive steps, some with effort, some part of broader global trends. Nearly all homes in India today have an electricity connection, and the prices of solar power have crashed to a level where newspapers talk of “grid parity.” Carbon is a universal ...India 2024: A productive India
India’s policy default in the energy sector has been a focus on infrastructure addition with the goal of sufficiency. This made sense based on the deficits it was facing after Independence, especially in the electricity sector. Reliable and assured energy is also a prerequisite for robust industrial and manufacturing growth. But now, ...India 2024: A clean India
India continues to suffer from a number of systemic challenges, many dating back decades, when it comes to governance, the delivery of services, and financial sustainability. The next government should focus its efforts on a few areas. Cut Out Middlemen Today, a major scourge on governance in India – including in the ...India needs to change the thermal power story to survival of the fittest,...
The proposals for solving the current stranded capacity crisis should start a process of big picture thinking to achieve better collective outcomes on multiple long-term objectives. Doing so requires some decisive changes to the status-quo. How we got here: The chronic factors behind recent woes Contrast the following energy and peak deficits ...Can natural gas be a catalyst to build a lower-carbon world?
The short answer to the question is yes; natural gas can be and has already become a catalyst in some countries, which are transitioning to a low-carbon economy. The more important question though is can this model be replicated in other countries with gas as a catalyst? Several factors have been responsible ...Around the halls: Brookings experts on what to watch at the COP 24 climate...
The 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) begins Monday, December 3, in Katowice, Poland. Normally the host plays a big leadership role. This is the third time Poland has physically hosted the COP more than any other country, except Germany (which hosts the ...Understanding India, its energy needs and ambitions, and the global...
At least one newspaper headline this year declared that renewable energy in India is now cheaper than coal and that coal is surely on its way out. However, recent research from my Brookings colleague Samantha Gross and me shows that the transition will not be nearly as smooth as some imagine. Renewable ...Working to turn ambition into reality
Executive Summary Even before signing the Paris climate agreement, the Indian government announced extremely ambitious renewable energy (RE) targets that would quadruple the country’s RE capacity between late 2014 and 2022, to 175 gigawatts (GW).1 From India’s relatively small RE base, this target implies annual growth of 25 percent a targeted buildout ...Transition to electric vehicles in Karnataka and India: What’s real,...
The recent policy push for electrifying mobility in India has spurred a host of national and sub-national policies, private sector investment in technology and infrastructure, and business models piloted or deployed in the electric vehicles (EV) segment. Many plans are based on targets or manufacturing, and there are few conversations about holistic ...Electrifying mobility in India
India’s electric vehicles' (EV) aspirations are steep from where we stand today, but they have sparked remarkable interest and action in policy, industry and research arenas.India does not have the luxury to develop now and “clean up”...
New Year’s Day is an opportune occasion for reflection and re-emphasis. I summarise below 10 energy-related suggestions that I made last year, in part to remind and in part to influence the government’s agenda. One, the energy conundrum is how to square the circle between the government’s commitment to provide universal access ...Transitioning Towards a Sustainable Energy Future: Challenges and...
India sits at the nub of the crisis of the current high carbon model of development. It is not responsible for this crisis and it can legitimately argue that it must not bear the costs of adapting and mitigating its consequences. However, it cannot escape the reality that it is amongst the ...Challenges ahead for clean energy
Who doesn’t want clean or ‘green’ energy? But what if this costs a bit more? We might quickly find many people’s appetite for renewable energy (RE) is lower, especially if the worry cited is something as invisible, long-term, and global as CO2 emissions that impact climate change. RE is making enormous progress ...A patchy green – energy policy in India
Arvind Panagariya did not list the “draft national energy policy”, prepared by the Niti Aayog and circulated for comment on June 27, as one of the important achievements of his tenure as Deputy Chairman in the various interviews that I read, on the day he announced his resignation. Perhaps, because the document ...Clean energy can cement Indo-US ties
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington, US President Donald Trump and he will find numerous areas of disagreement. High on that list will be climate change. Early this month, Trump put a stick in the eye of the world by announcing that he will pull the US out of the ...Trump’s Paris Agreement withdrawal: What it means and what comes...
Today, President Donald Trump announced that he will withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. It was adopted in 2015 by 195 nations, with 147 ratifying it including the United States, which is the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter. Experts offer their analyses on what the ...Challenges, recommendations for meeting 2017 norms for air pollution from...
In this Brookings India IMPACT Series paper, Rahul Tongia and Deborah Seligsohn discuss the challenges for India in meeting the upcoming 2017 standards for air pollution from thermal power plants. While these new environmental norms are a welcome step in reducing emissions and are in line with global standards, gaps still remain in ...How India can meet its ambitious renewable energy targets
A systemic approach that focuses on enabling the environment for more renewable energy will help India to meet its target of generating 175 gigawatts of energy by 2021. At the recently concluded Marrakesh Conference, most countries stood by their commitments made in Paris at COP21 for reducing carbon emissions. India’s ratification, on ...Think you’re being eco-friendly by using cloth bags? Think again
The most important factor for cloth bags to actually be “eco-friendly”: reuse 171 times. That’s how many times one reportedly has to reuse a cloth bag to justify the extra energy consumed for its manufacture compared to a disposable plastic bag. While the exact number may vary with the thickness of the ...India has done little to bridge energy supply-demand gap
India has done very little in the last few decades by way of harmonizing its governance structures to secure its energy needs despite a surging demand to fuel its growing economy, and the crisis may worsen in the coming years, Brookings India chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said at a policy discussion forum ...India-US relations: Energy and environment
The energy market has undergone a major structural change since 2015. The most dramatic manifestations of this change are Saudi Arabia’s decision to forego the role of “swing producer,” the consequential drop in the price of oil, and the recent pronouncement in Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030″to reduce its dependence on petroleum. Underlying ...Sustainable development goals must be linked to energy and environment
Niti Aayog needs a sharp focus on weakening the link between energy demand and environmental degradation writes Vikram Mehta Niti Aayog has placed on the internet a 25-slide presentation entitled “Creating a movement for change”. It has set out a thematic roadmap for quintupling the GDP from the current $2 trillion to ...India and Climate Change – Spoilsport or just late to the party?
India may have been late to the emissions party, but with innovation and rapid development, it can make a disproportionate contribution to emissions reduction. India’s carbon reduction pledges (the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or INDCs) have been labelled as medium or even weak by many global observers. Global op-eds talk of India ...Delhi’s bar on cars: Using a sword instead of a scalpel for surgery
Enough has been written (mostly against) the idea to limit cars in Delhi, by license plate. Will it work? Can you enforce it? Will it lead to more sales of alternate number of cars? And, most importantly, are alternatives such as public transport ready, especially considering issues of first/last mile? Much of ...Any progress on climate change will depend on innovation and global...
The climate-change relevant question is, how will the continuing compounded advance of technology impact the energy sector? How do we square this circle? On the one hand, the world has come together to tackle the threat of global warming. More than 150 countries have set out their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) ...Will India accept legally binding agreements at COP21?
As world leaders gather for the global COP21 climate negotiations. Many may feel it is now or never. But the question remains, who is supposed to contribute how much toward emissions reductions? India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submission has targeted a measurable (33-35 percent) improvement in emissions intensity (per GDP) versus ...Cleaning coal instead of wishing it away
The World Bank recently announced that short of exceptional circumstances, they would no longer fund coal in developing regions. The U.S. and other nations are also contemplating, if not making, similar choices, driven in part by concerns about climate change. This view may be impractical, if not myopic, given that at least ...The Green Budget
This column first appeared in the Indian Express, on February 2, 2015. Like other products of the Brookings Institution India Center, this is intended to contribute to discussion and stimulate debate on important issues. The views are those of the author. In the aftermath of the Republic Day India-US summit and against the backdrop of ...India and Climate Change: Reversing the Development-Climate Nexus
After the November 2014 joint U.S.-China announcement on climate change, all eyes turned towards India. What would India do? Would it sign a similar agreement, especially with the impending visit by President Barack Obama? Even if some agreement were signed, what would India promise? Probably one of the best outcomes of the ...India-U.S. Energy Cooperation: Moving to Green, Clean and Smart
The U.S. is the second largest energy consumer in the world, and India is soon to become the third. The U.S. already has a large consumption base; India has enormous growth ahead of it given the low per capita levels of energy consumption (an order of magnitude lower than the U.S.). This ...A story of the clean energy fund
The finance minister announced in his budget speech that he would enhance the resources of the “clean energy fund” by doubling the cess on coal production from Rs 50 per tonne to Rs 100 per tonne. This fund was set up in 2000 to incubate, encourage and develop innovation in clean energy. ...Getting down to the energy business
This may be the right political moment to resolve the dilemmas surrounding the energy policy. Energy sits at the nub of every politician’s deepest dilemma. How to meet the demands of the electorate for affordable and reliable fuel without pushing government finances into a deep hole? In the specific context of India, ...Reflections from Binsar
Talent, money and policy must be harnessed to search for the optimal development-environment balance The tragedy in Uttarakhand cannot be overstated. It is a tragedy of monumental proportions. For me, there is a personal dimension. I have a home in the forest sanctuary of Binsar which is 40 miles north of Almora. ...