A monthly newsletter featuring CSTEP commentary, publications, events, and other developments.

The impacts of climate variability, climate change, and extreme events are visible globally and in India. The Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranks India seventh, considering the extent to which India has been affected by the impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heatwaves, etc.). The index signals that repercussions of escalating climate change are exacerbating and can no longer be ignored.

In India, solar photovoltaics (PV), which is environmentally friendly and safer, is gaining popularity as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. With technological advancements in the last decade, India’s solar sector has made significant growth, with an installed capacity of 46.2 GW of the country’s total renewable energy (RE) capacity of 101.5 GW.

Over the last few years, the use of solar energy has increased considerably in India. While the overall installed solar capacity has increased by 17 times in the last seven years and stood at 47.7 GW as of October 2021, its share in the energy mix is just about 12 per cent, according to Central Energy Authority (CEA) data. This share is likely to increase in the future, considering the steady efforts from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) towards promoting clean energy technologies.

India, the world’s third-largest GHGs emitter, has its transport sector contributing 10% of total national GHG emissions, with road transportation contributing about 87% of the sector’s total emissions. The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is one way to bring down emissions. While the Indian Government has issued various policy measures, successful EV uptake lies in policy implementation at the State level.

The Tamil Nadu Air Pollution and Health Effects study (TAPHE-2) aims to evaluate the relationship between air pollution and birth outcome in a rural-urban cohort of 300 pregnant women. Due to COVID-19 related lockdowns, some TAPHE-2 activities were delayed; however, continuous indoor and outdoor air quality data were collected in and around Chennai, India.

The impacts of climate variability, climate change, and extreme events are visible globally and in India. The Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranks India seventh, considering the extent to which India has been affected by the impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heatwaves, etc.). The index signals that repercussions of escalating climate change are exacerbating and can no longer be ignored.

The two-week-long UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) concluded with the negotiated terms detailed in the Glasgow Climate Pact. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in the most optimistic scenario where all the announced pledges are achieved, global mean temperature rise can be limited to 1.8°C by 2100. Even if complete implementation may be unlikely, in terms of ambition and ratcheting, COP26 has made progress, albeit incremental.

Climate change is increasing the risk of occurrence of natural hazard events at different scales and magnitudes across the world. In India, Chennai rains and the resulting floods are a recent example. While climate change is the prime factor, environmental degradation exacerbates disaster risk, affecting the degree of exposure of societies to floods, landslides, and other hazards. Conventional urban-flood-management approaches alone may fall short as they do not provide the services required to build resilience to deal with the heightened threats.