Main Banner Image
Environment

Third Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture: Voluntary Carbon Markets: Challenges and Opportunities in Developing Economies

The Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture was instituted in 2022, in memory of our founding Editor-in-Chief, as an annual lecture on key issues in development. For the third edition on 11 December 2024, Profe...

  • Videos

Financing the climate transition of India’s power sector

A cornerstone of India’s climate transition plan is to shift towards a high-efficiency, low-emission power sector. In this post, Vardhan and Tilotia outline the investment and financing challenges a...

  • Perspectives

Can education propel climate action?

While youth in the developing world are anxious about climate change and ready for action, they are constrained by a lack of information and knowledge. In this post, Masood and Sabarwal discuss insigh...

  • Perspectives
Refine list by:
--Please Select--
--Please Select--

Can solar micro-grids deliver basic electricity access in Indian villages?

About one-third of India´s population remains without access to basic electricity services. This column discusses preliminary lessons from an experiment in rural Uttar Pradesh that seeks to set up s...

  • Articles

Harnessing India's wind power potential

While India’s wind power sector has progressed significantly in the past decade, only about 22% of its potential has been harnessed so far. In this article, Deepthi Swamy - who was part of a team t...

  • Notes from the Field

Solar power for street vendors? Lessons from an experiment in Bihar

Rapid urbanisation in developing countries is aggravating the issue of insufficient access to energy for basic needs such as lighting. This column discusses lessons from an experiment in Bihar wherei...

  • Articles

Creating the climate for India's low-carbon growth story

The ‘Expert Group on Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth’ recently laid out a detailed roadmap for India to take on climate change mitigation proactively. In this note, Varad Pande – a m...

  • Notes from the Field

Pricey diesel

India was recently ranked 174th out of 178 countries, on air pollution. A key contributing factor is diesel vehicles. This column shows that diesel subsidies benefit the rich more than the poor, and ...

  • Articles

Can a clean energy agenda take off in Delhi?

Energy transition in cities, through energy conservation measures and increased reliance on renewable energy, has become a key focus of climate change policies. This column outlines the clean energy ...

  • Articles

Deforestation in the Himalayas: Myths and reality

It is widely believed that the extent of deforestation in developing countries is large and growing over time, and that this has significant adverse effects on local livelihoods. This column presents...

  • Articles

Proposing a solution for Indo-US 'solar wars'

India’s national solar programme mandates the use of domestically manufactured components in solar power installations in the country. The US has filed a WTO case against India, alleging that the p...

  • Articles

Four changes to trade rules to facilitate climate change action

Global climate cooperation has collapsed but the need for action has not disappeared. This column argues that only radical technological progress can reconcile climate-change goals with development. ...

  • Articles

Running out of water, walking away from farming

Groundwater tables are falling in India. What will happen when water actually runs out? This column analyses the impact of water scarcity on farmers in Gujarat. It finds that farmers are failing to or...

  • Articles

In pursuit of low-carbon electricity

The policy debate on low-carbon energy often tends to focus solely on setting targets. This column argues that the State’s capacity to meet targets and the strategies followed to build the required ...

  • Articles

Did the metro help reduce air pollution in Delhi?

The Delhi metro has been operational for over a decade now. Has it helped reduce the high levels of air pollution? This column presents initial findings from research that suggests that the metro has...

  • Articles

Recent Contributors

Digvijay S.

Digvijay S. Negi

Ashoka University

Rohini

Rohini Pande

Yale University

I4I

I4I Team

Ideas for India

Hammad

Hammad Farooqui

Azim Premji University

Anshuman

Anshuman Tiwari

EPIC India

Nicholas

Nicholas Hagerty

Montana State University

Bipasha

Bipasha Maity

Ashoka University

Sutirtha

Sutirtha Bandyopadhyay

Indian Institute of Management Indore

View all Contributors

Most Popular Environment Posts

Happy Seeder: A solution to agricultural fires in north India

It is believed that much of the pollution in Delhi in November every year originates in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana where farmers burn their fields to dispose of crop residue. This ...

  • Articles

Carbon dioxide emissions from India’s industries: Data sources and discrepancies

Industries are one of the most significant contributors to energy-related carbon-dioxide (energy-CO2) emissions in India – the share of industries in the total emissions was 25%, second only to powe...

  • Perspectives

Has environmental regulation been successful in India?

India has an impressive number of environmental regulations – but have they been a success? This column presents evidence that while initiatives such as catalytic converters for cars have reduced ai...

  • Articles