Dr Sarath Guttikunda is the founder of UrbanEmissions.Info (UEinfo, India). His main research interest lies in urban emissions and finding ways to bridge the gap between science, policy, and public awareness. In this interview, he speaks about the APnA city program and his work in dispersion modelling to understand spatial distribution of pollutants.

Mini-grids can play a pivotal role in achieving these targets, by providing decentralised power to remote areas, using RE. They can help invigorate the socio-economic status of rural societies by generating employment and improving the quality of life through energy access. Mini-grids also help reduce the government’s expenditure on high capital investments, which would be required for expanding the central grid for last-mile energy supply.

This report contains the following elements:

▪ A listing of the policies/ programmes/ schemes/ missions/ laws applicable within boundary of the state of Gujarat considered for analysis across the sectors 

▪ Analysis of achievement of targets under the policies/ programmes/ schemes/ missions/ laws. and an its assessment of GHG emission implications 

▪ An assessment, wherever possible of the positive and/or negative impacts of the implementation of these policies on the climate 

Across India, the lack of adequate data on air pollution is a challenge to addressing air pollution. After all, if you do not know what pollutes and by how much, how can you find solutions? Going in blind has rarely been an effective strategy for solving a problem.

With haphazard urban development and a lackadaisical approach towards pollution control, Bengaluru is a ticking time bomb, says Dr Pratima Singh, Research Scientist at CSTEP, in this interview.

We believe that in long-term forecasting, understanding the dynamic behaviour of the system and its responses to various interventions is crucial.

COP25 comes close on the heels of the UN Climate Summit in New York, in September. Several countries (68 countries accounting for 8% of global GHG emissions) signalled that they will be strengthening commitments at Madrid.

As parties to the Paris agreement prepare to enhance their NDCs next year, non-party stakeholders have a crucial responsibility in leading the governments to take concrete measures to urgently align their growth and climate actions with the 1.5 degree Celsius target. Bridging the emissions gap and enabling a transition to a low carbon economy will require concerted efforts from industries: take responsibility for their contribution to the overall emissions by leveraging and using their strength to rapidly deploy innovative technologies at scale.

The 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid was a disappointment on many accounts. Hailed as the ‘ambition COP’, it proved to be everything but. One of the core issues that negotiators were attempting to resolve, but were unsuccessful at, was Loss and Damage financing.