Pathways to Steer India’s Buildings Sector Towards a Net-Zero Future
The buildings sector in India is a key contributor to energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. As most of the buildings that will exist in India in the next 30 years are yet to be constructed, overcoming the challenges posed by the sector will be a deciding factor in India's transition to net zero. Therefore, it is important to explore the different decarbonisation pathways available to achieve India's energy goals.
Breathing in Bengaluru: Need for integrated planning
Bengaluru has been ranked as the most congested city in India, as per the TomTom Traffic Index 2023. Severe congestion has led to a loss in productive hours and a frequent disruption of emergency services, in addition to economic impacts. Further, rapid urbanisation in the city leading to urban sprawl has strained the transportation infrastructure and resulted in increased accidents, traffic congestion, and air pollution.
Beyond shelter, dweller needs within the four walls
In the Interim Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the construction of two crore additional houses over the next five years under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) and the introduction of a new housing scheme for the middle class. This is a commendable step towards realising the goals of the ambitious ‘Housing for All’ initiative and builds on the success of the PMAY scheme, which has facilitated the construction of nearly three crore rural and 80 lakh urban affordable houses since 2015.
Unravelling India’s Changing Rural Migration Patterns Amidst Climate Change
The 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai underscored the need for scaling up and strengthening adaptation and resilience activities to protect the vulnerable sections of society, such as farmers, from the adverse impacts of climate change. Escalating rural migration and diminishing local production in rural areas due to climate impacts markedly influence the Indian economy, which is essentially agrarian and predominantly rainfed.
IPCC work on seventh climate assessment threatened by shorter timelines
Established in 1988, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been bringing out climate change assessment reports on a periodic basis. So far, it has produced six assessment reports, three special reports, as well as methodology reports that provide guidelines for estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removal.
Climate Charche: Decoding Urban Climate With Geospatial Techniques
CSTEP organised a workshop in collaboration with the Bengaluru Sustainability Forum (BSF) on 12 March 2024 to enhance knowledge on geospatial technology as part of the Climate Charche series. Geospatial technology provides scientific data for analysing, mapping, and monitoring various aspects of complex urban systems that affect climate.
The Google Earth Engine (GEE) is such a tool that provides access to a comprehensive public data catalogue, allowing users to visualise and analyse spatial data effectively.
Climate Change: The Science and Story
The offline sessions of the eARTh Climate Fellowship were conducted from 14 to 16 February. Packed with eclectic experiences, the sessions, spread over three days, showcased how human intervention is essential to arrest climate change.
Trans-segmental cooperation is the key to implement the renewable energy initiatives announced in the Interim Budget 2024
In a welcome move, the Interim Budget 2024 provides great impetus to the rooftop solar segment through the ‘Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana’. Under this scheme, the current rooftop solar subsidy rate of 40 percent has been increased to 60 percent. Allocation for the solar power sector has seen an increase of 48 percent compared to the last year. At present, India has 11 GW of rooftop solar installations, but the major potential remains untapped.