Building codes are not new to India, and the first iteration of the National Building Code (NBC) dates back to 1970. While the NBC had general building guidelines in place, there were none pertaining to regulating emissions from the building sector. In 2002, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was established under the Energy Conservation Act to spearhead energy and emission-related regulations.

India is now the eighth-largest lithium reserve country thanks to discovery in Jammu & Kashmir. This find has the potential to alter the speed of India’s decarbonisation. It puts India in much stronger position in the global critical materials trade, makes it attractive for investments in key forward-looking sectors.

India’s plans to add more than 200GW of solar PV capacity will include significant contribution of agriPV. Given the criticality of agriculture to the Indian economy and the diversity in crop production, there is need to understand in practical terms the impact of deploying agriPV on productivity, farmers incomes, linkages to foreign trade, domestic demand among other issues. This granular assessment must form the basis for developing clear guidelines, in consultation with stakeholders, on defining agriPV and parameters such as acceptable yield restriction.

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

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

Jharkhand is a mineral-rich state in India. Its cities have access to various solid fuels and proximity to several heavy industries. These factors, along with the movement of traffic (public and goods), contribute to air pollution in the state.

In 2019, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) under the Government of India launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which proposes strategies to reduce air pollution in several cities in India. In Jharkhand, only Dhanbad, a non-attainment city, and Ranchi and Jamshedpur, million-plus cities, are under the purview of NCAP. However, considering the importance of mitigating air pollution in several cities in the state, the government has identified multiple cities, including Ramgarh, to generate evidence on air pollution.

We are in a state of climate emergency. The past year was witness to some of the worst floods in Pakistan, extreme heatwaves in the United Kingdom, and devastating hurricanes in the United States. Climate disasters became the norm in India, too, during the first seven months of 2022 as 241 out of 273 days were marked by an extreme weather event — cold waves, heatwaves, cyclones, thunderstorms, torrential rains, floods, landslides, droughts, dust storms, hail, or snowstorms — according to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment.

Another Earth Day is upon us, reminding us how closely interlinked human, animal, and environmental health are. The theme for this year, ‘Restore Our Earth’, is yet another appeal to us—the inhabitants of this magnificent planet—to make earnest attempts at promoting harmony with nature.
Interestingly, nature itself holds vital cues on how we can go about it.