Reports

Since the Green Revolution, which kicked off in the 1960s as a response to India’s low agricultural productivity and need to import food, the nation has relied on Urea to provide the nitrogen necessary for higher crop yields and food security.  But this reliance has come at a cost to the economy and the environment.

Urea use has a significant role in three major environmental challenges: nitrogen pollution, ozone layer depletion and climate change.

The report- Just Transition Just Finance- has been developed recognizing the need for an empirical basis to determine the cost of just energy transition, which can help countries to develop just transition plans, make necessary investments and foster global partnerships for securing finances. The report introduces an approach to estimate the cost of a just energy transition at the sub-national and national levels. The methodology can also be tailored to estimate transition costs for a coal mine or a power plant. It also outlines a broad spectrum of investments, including grants and subsidies, necessary to decommission and repurpose coal mines and power plants, supply green energy alternatives, promote economic diversity, assist workers and businesses, and strengthen community resilience.

Geoengineering refers to a suite of technological interventions aimed at slowing or halting some of the effects of climate change. Two of the major kinds of geoengineering that are at present gaining traction rapidly are Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). SRM approaches focus on deliberately cooling the planet by reflecting a small amount of sunlight to space or by allowing more of Earth’s infrared radiation is to escape to space. SRM methods include utilizing mirrors in space to reflect sunlight (Space Based Reflectors), increasing the reflectivity of land or ocean surfaces (surface albedo), increasing the reflectivity of marine clouds (Marine Cloud Brightening), and increasing the reflectivity of the stratospheric aerosol layer via Stratospheric Aerosol Injection of SAI.

The report evaluates the status of regulations on SUPs and their implementation across the 36 states and UTs of India between 2016 to 2019 to understand gaps and challenges in their design and implementation. It is important to note that these analyses were conducted, well before the current SUP ban was announced. Thus, while some of the lessons in the report may be used to design any future plastic legislation, it is not a commentary on the SUP ban of 1 July 2022.

The report presents the status of data and research, and the capacities of research institutions on marine plastic litter in India. The literature review was carried out to assess the availability of data on marine litter in four different fates, as recognised under the SDG Target 14.1: on beaches or shorelines (beach litter), floating on the water or in the water column, on the seafloor/seabed, and ingested by biota (e.g., sea birds). Research institutions were surveyed and studied to understand their geographical presence, focus research areas and engagement, and their capacity to conduct research on marine litter.

This policy brief on reducing marine plastic pollution from land-based sources, focuses on the current state of knowledge and institutional capacity on marine plastic litter and the strategies to reduce marine litter by developing a comprehensive approach to reduce the demand and usage of SUPs. This is the first step to develop an integrated approach to reduce marine plastic litter.

The report offers an in-depth evaluation of laws and regulations pertaining to environmental, land and labour aspects of the coal sector, which have salience for a just transition. It also looks into the challenges and limitations of the existing laws and regulatory mechanisms and outlines necessary reforms to support an environmentally and socially responsible transition, which is also timebound.

India’s coal fleet is fast ageing. About one-fifth of the current capacity is primed for decommissioning as their average age is more than 35 years. If the Ministry of Power’s advisory to retire coal-based generation units of more than 25 years old is implemented, then as much as 50-60 GW capacity will retire in the coming ten years. But is India prepared to decommission such large capacities under a just transition framework, ensuring fair and inclusive outcomes for the environment, labour and community?

The report is the first to map India’s Air Quality Management (AQM) sector and the various direct and indirect jobs within it. It recommends a capacity building road map for the next five years to meet the goals of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

The study on just transition for Angul was undertaken to evaluate how Odisha’s largest coal mining and industrial district can strategically plan for a just energy transition and simultaneously build a green economy
in the coming decades.

There is a high proportion of informal workers in India’s coal states and districts who are directly dependent
on coal for an income. These workers are engaged in a variety of activities related to coal mining, coal transportation, and in the coal washeries. Besides, a large proportion of people earn a living by gathering and selling coal. These workers collectively constitute the informal coal economy.

The study of the Korba district of Chhattisgarh was undertaken to understand what a just transition will mean and entail for India’s top coal mining and coal-based power districts, and how a just transition planning can be approached.

Developing countries require massive financial and technical support to ensure just and equitable phase out of coal under accelerated timelines, aligned with achieving decarbonization goals. The requirement of strengthened support has been brought up on several occasions at the ongoing COP26.

A precise definition and an appropriate framing of just transition in the context of India’s fossil fuel regions and economy is essential to build policy momentum and public engagement on the issue. This is also important for formulation of relevant policies and just transition plans that are guided by the principles of social and environmental justice, and are designed to achieve net positive social, economic and environmental outcomes.

India’s trajectory for energy transition will determine the policy and planning approach for the just transition. Two recent modelling studies on net-zero emissions pathways for India provide a glimpse of possible trajectories to reduce fossil fuels over the next three to four decades.

There is a growing debate on enacting a ‘framework climate legislation’ to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation action. International treaties, such as the Paris Agreement, do not have an enforcement mechanism as those found in national laws; the absence of which can undermine climate action. Through a detailed review of India’s environmental laws, climate litigations and framework legislations in various countries, this report explores whether India needs a framework climate legislation, and the scope and contours of it.

This report provides the conceptual framework to operationalize sensor-based low-cost environmental monitoring in developing countries. We have called this self-monitoring analysis and reporting technology (SMART) and affordable systems.

This paper presents a roadmap to make the Brick sector modern, resource-efficient and environmentally sound.

Brick making in clamps is the oldest and most polluting brick manufacturing technologies. This report discusses the environmental impacts of clamps and the plan to transition from clamps to cleaner technologies.

The Supreme Court passed an order to convert brick kilns in Delhi-NCR to cleaner Zig-Zag technology to curb air pollution. This report provides an in-depth analysis of how the orders of the Supreme Court was being implemented. It also put out a methodology to check compliance status of the brick kilns.

This report for the first ranked the performance of the state pollution control boards (SPCBs) based on a large number of criteria’s. Its findings showed how weak and ineffective these institutions have become because of sheer neglect and political interferences.

Post the release of the report on the ‘Status of environmental regulatory capacity in India’, this report elaborated the reform agenda for India’s environmental Regulators.

The Polluter Pays Principle is one of key principles upon which the National Green Tribunal (NGT), India’s green court, relies for delivering decisions. But how well and consistently this principle has been used by the NGT?