Initiative on Climate, Energy and Environment

[EVENT]: MPs' Roundtable on 'Unpacking political narratives around air pollution in India.' Join us on Monday, November 29 at 5:30PM IST as we explore current narratives on the air pollution crisis in India with Members of Parliament from across the country: Dr.Heena Gavit, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Thamizhachi Thangapandian and Gaurav Gogoi. MPs will reflect on the emergent narratives on the crisis, significant developments in air quality politics over the last two years, and the path forward.

Register via Zoom: bit.ly/3FF0Dar

COP 26 in Glasgow has been positioned as the 'last, best chance' to seriously address climate change. Several crucial issues have emerged during the COP: new net zero and other announcements by countries, calls for updated NDC pledges, deals on finance, adaptation, and loss and damage and efforts to complete the Paris Rule book, notably on carbon markets. To help understand whether, and how, COP 26 met its aspirations, the Centre for Policy Research is holding a COP debrief, bringing together panelists with a wealth of knowledge on climate law, policy, politics and practice. The speakers will reflect on the legal implications of COP 26, its political outcomes, and what this means for India going forward. Please join us to make sense of COP 26.

Register now: bit.ly/3c2TsvW

Speakers:
Lavanya Rajamani, Professor of International Environmental Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, and Visiting Professor, Centre for Policy Research
RR Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow and Programme Director, Earth Science and Climate Change, TERI
Harald Winkler, Professor, University of Cape Town

Chaired by:
Navroz K. Dubash, Professor, Centre for Policy Research

[EVENT]: What drives India's rural residential electricity demand? How can we effectively manage India's future electricity use? To find out, join us for the 4th Annual Roundtable on Residential Electricity Consumption on September 29 and October 7, 2021 starting 3PM IST both days.

Agenda and speakers: bit.ly/3kuPEJ0

Register here: bit.ly/3kw5l2E

An approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions that is informed by the ethical theory of utilitarianism would lead to better outcomes for human development, equity, and the climate, according to a new article published in Nature Climate Change by Mark B. Budolfson, CPR Professor Navroz K. Dubash and many others.

Utilitarian benchmarks for emissions and pledges promote equity, climate and development - Nature Climate Change Climate mitigation will require allocations of emission allowances to nations. This study proposes a utilitarian benchmark to ensure equitable allocations whilst mitigating climate change.

What can India learn from climate laws around the world? Focus more on processes, less on outcomes, writes Anirudh Sridhar in the Hindustan Times.

Read more: https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/in-india-s-climate-law-focus-more-on-process-less-on-outcomes-101629893051858.html

New on | The report indicates that the climate crisis will disrupt India’s developmental future, and undercut the prosperity of its people in the long run.

Hot and Flooded: What the IPCC report forecasts for India’s development future — Environmentality The IPCC report indicates that the climate crisis will disrupt India’s developmental future, and undercut the prosperity of its people in the long run.

An enabling climate law that cradles research and prompts investment in green technology might be far more effective in securing India’s long-term economic prosperity than a hastily enacted net-zero or carbon-capping law, which might prove ineffective, unenforceable or debilitating, writes CPR visiting researcher Anirudh Sridhar in today's Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/designing-a-climate-law-for-india-101629800791590.html

How can states be enabled to transition toward climate-resilient and low-carbon societies? How can they be empowered to experiment and learn from each other? In today's Hindustan Times, researchers from CPR argue that giving the states room to innovate will require multiple strands of change: enhanced state capacities, sharper fiscal incentives, and new coordination mechanisms. https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/states-are-the-beating-heart-of-climate-action-101627907726855.html

[POLICY BRIEF]: How can we unlock state-led climate action in the context of India's uniquely centralized federal set-up? In a new CPR policy brief, Aditya V. Pillai, Navroz K. Dubash and Parth Bhatia call for a major capacity overhaul, new coordination mechanisms and sharper financial incentives. Learn more: bit.ly/3jcG7Vh

Join us for a discussion around 'Building a Climate-Ready Indian State' on Friday at 5PM IST: bit.ly/2WhGpCa

India will need a robust institutional structure capable of addressing climate governance challenges such as strategy-setting, coordination and consensus building. Join us on **Friday, July 30 at 5PM IST** for this conversation around building a Climate-Ready Indian State, informed by two recent policy briefs by CPR proposing a plan for revitalizing climate governance at the national and federal levels.

Register now: bit.ly/2WhGpCa

MoEFCC's new Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) on environmental violations will further undermine our weak environmental regulatory framework, and should be withdrawn by the Ministry immediately, writes Shibani Ghosh in a new post on .

Ghosh provides context for the Office Memorandum (OM) laying out the SoP, and briefly looks at what it attempts to do. She then discusses three reasons why the OM is deeply problematic: first, the OM imposes penalties that the MoEFCC does not have the power to levy under the law; second, it introduces an open-ended amnesty scheme that will encourage environmental violations, not deter them; and third, the Ministry's reading of judicial orders to justify the OM is disingenuous. Read more below.

Why MoEFCC’s new SoP on environmental violations must be withdrawn — Environmentality The Ministry’s new Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for ‘identification and handling of violation cases’ under the EIA Notification 2006 will further undermine our weak environmental regulatory framework, and should be withdrawn by the Ministry immediately.

[EVENT]: Institutional Pathways and Political Economy of 21st Century Electricity in India. Join us on Tuesday, July 20 at 3PM IST as we discuss the political economy of 21st century electricity in India, with an emphasis on emerging opportunities to unwind the vicious cycle of electricity-centric redistribution and welfarism.

Register now: bit.ly/3ikBRm9

Speakers:
Shantanu Dixit, Group Coordinator, (Prayas Energy Group)
Mahua Acharya, CEO, Convergence Energy Services Ltd.
Ashwini K. Swain, Fellow, Centre for Policy Research

Moderated by:
Navroz K. Dubash, Professor, Centre for Policy Research