About a year ago, Bengaluru witnessed some of the worst floods in its history. Amidst many ad hoc measures, the state responded with excavators, removing encroachments on storm water drains (SWDs). It is clear now that none of the piecemeal solutions have worked. Rainfall over the last couple of weeks has seen flooding reoccur in the same parts of the city as the previous year. We often blame climate change for the mess we are in, and to some degree, this is justified. However, climate change always manifests through complex socio-ecological changes on the ground.

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Bengaluru witnessed a 16% spike in car registrations during FY 2021–22. With the addition of about 1 lakh cars annually over the past few years, several parts of the city continue to experience severe traffic congestion. A few initiatives are underway to ease this problem.

There is a need for the citizens of Bengaluru to become more environmentally conscious and adopt sustainable mobility options. Aggressive awareness campaigns and investments in this direction are required from policymakers.

As a rapidly developing nation, India is currently the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. However, we aim to reduce the overall carbon intensity and achieve 50 per cent of power from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, which is currently at 43 per cent as per Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

The National Green Hydrogen Mission envisions India to be a leading manufacturer and a major hub for green hydrogen in the world. However, India lacks the necessary infrastructure and some of the key technologies that are needed to realise these goals. India does not produce green hydrogen at a commercial stage at present and lacks several raw materials (critical minerals) that are required to manufacture electrolysers.

The growth of the Indian petrochemical industry can be made sustainable only by mitigating the emissions from it. This study examines the decarbonisation potential of India’s petrochemical sector until 2050 through low- or zero-emission technologies. It also underlines measures for decarbonising this hard-to-abate sector, with the aim to provide inputs for devising suitable strategies and guide policy formulation.

The on-road vehicle stock in Bengaluru is expected to grow by 1.5 times, with the total vehicular population projected to increase from 5.7M to 8.9M by 2030. Of note, the city’s electric vehicle (EV) fleet is projected to grow from 75,000 to 2.3M, with the most significant increase in the number of two wheelers, followed by three and four wheelers.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a direct cause of human-induced climate change. India accounted for 2.9 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2019. The transportation sector accounts for roughly 10% or 290 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Road transport, mainly comprising heavy vehicles (buses and trucks) and to some extent personal vehicles (two wheelers [2Ws] and four wheelers [4Ws]), is the leading contributor to these emissions.