Recent Updates

Embedding Water Resilience in Global Adaptation Goals – Expectations from COP30
Water | Climate Change Nov 10, 2025

Embedding Water Resilience in Global Adaptation Goals – Expectations from COP30

Water is the linchpin of climate action at COP30; embedding water resilience into global adaptation goals is essential for equity, security, and sustainability ...

The Paris Agreement at Ten: Aligning Climate Ambition, Equity, and Implementation
Sustainable Development | Climate Change Nov 10, 2025

The Paris Agreement at Ten: Aligning Climate Ambition, Equity, and Implementation

A decade since the Paris Agreement reshaped global climate governance, COP30 in Belém must confront the widening gap between ambition and action—realigning finance, technology, and adaptation to deliver a just and effective climate transition ...

Resilient Threads: Weaving A Climate-Ready, Regenerative Future for Cotton in India
Climate, Food and Environment | Climate Change Oct 07, 2025

Resilient Threads: Weaving A Climate-Ready, Regenerative Future for Cotton in India

The threat posed by climate change to India’s cotton sector can no longer be ignored. As we observe World Cotton Day, there is an urgent need to provide small-scale cotton farmers and the wider cotton industry with the necessary support. ...

As Europe Heats Up, India’s Climate Partnerships Risk Drying Out
Energy | Climate Change Aug 22, 2025

As Europe Heats Up, India’s Climate Partnerships Risk Drying Out

Europe’s climate crisis threatens India’s urban resilience, risking funds, tech, and partnerships vital for its Viksit Bharat 2047 climate-smart growth vision. ...

India’s REE Strategy: Turning Resources into Capacity
Energy Aug 11, 2025

India’s REE Strategy: Turning Resources into Capacity

While developing an REE scheme, India must align its policy objectives to its asymmetric resource endowment, technological readiness, and industrial demand ...

Why is the Green Hydrogen Industry Faltering in Australia?
Energy | Energy Security | Climate Change Aug 11, 2025

Why is the Green Hydrogen Industry Faltering in Australia?

Months after Climate Minister Chris Bowen hailed Australia as “the green hydrogen capital of the world,” several projects have stalled, and many remain in doubt. ...

Small-scale Farmers and the Sustainability Imperative in Palm Oil
Climate, Food and Environment | Agriculture Jul 21, 2025

Small-scale Farmers and the Sustainability Imperative in Palm Oil

Small-scale farmers are key to sustainable palm oil, but without support to meet rising standards, they risk exclusion from global supply chains. ...

Discovering India's Solar Goldmine: A Data-Enabled Approach
Energy | Oil, Gas and Renewables Jul 16, 2025

Discovering India's Solar Goldmine: A Data-Enabled Approach

India must reassess its solar potential to unlock investment, drive green growth, and lead global clean energy transitions through data-driven insights. ...

Beyond Energy Efficiency: Powering Innovation in Sustainable Cooling
Energy | Economic Diplomacy Jul 01, 2025

Beyond Energy Efficiency: Powering Innovation in Sustainable Cooling

The rapid heating of the planet demands that the next generation of cooling technology go beyond energy efficiency to be truly sustainable, while protecting the most vulnerable communities from excessive heat exposure. ...

Bridging the Climate Finance Gap in Africa through Debt Swaps
Climate, Food and Environment | Energy Security | Climate Change Jun 10, 2025

Bridging the Climate Finance Gap in Africa through Debt Swaps

As international climate finance retreats, Debt-for-Climate swaps offer African countries a promising pathway to reconcile fiscal constraints with urgent adaptation and resilience needs. ...

From Frying Pan to Fuel Tank: Used Cooking Oil and Food Safety
Healthcare | Climate, Food and Environment Jun 06, 2025

From Frying Pan to Fuel Tank: Used Cooking Oil and Food Safety

India’s struggle with used cooking oil reveals a pressing need to align food safety, public health, and biofuel policy through science-backed enforcement and public awareness. ...

A Recipe for Reform: Strengthening Food Safety in PM-POSHAN
Healthcare | Climate, Food and Environment Jun 06, 2025

A Recipe for Reform: Strengthening Food Safety in PM-POSHAN

India’s PM-POSHAN scheme nourishes millions, yet food poisoning cases reveal gaps in hygiene and quality control that threaten child health and trust. ...

Strengthening Food Safety in India’s Informal Vendor Economy
Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development Jun 06, 2025

Strengthening Food Safety in India’s Informal Vendor Economy

As India’s bustling street food culture feeds millions, weak enforcement and underinvestment threaten food safety, signalling the time to bridge the gap between tradition and regulation. ...

India’s Changing Food Plate: Outsourced, Overprocessed, Overlooked
Healthcare | Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development | Agriculture Jun 06, 2025

India’s Changing Food Plate: Outsourced, Overprocessed, Overlooked

As India's food system becomes increasingly digital, global, and doorstep-delivered, a crisis brews: marked by diluting accountability, supply chain opacity, and mounting reputational risks. ...

AI for Safer Food: Promise and Challenges
Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 06, 2025

AI for Safer Food: Promise and Challenges

Artificial Intelligence is transforming food safety systems by detecting contamination, predicting risks, and enhancing traceability across the supply chain. ...

Science in Action: Biosensing for Food Safety
Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 06, 2025

Science in Action: Biosensing for Food Safety

CRISPR-based biosensors provide an innovative point-of-use solution to tackle the increasing threat of foodborne illnesses and for research and development in the biotech industry. ...

Cash for Trash: Can Urban India Monetise Waste for Sustainable Development?
Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 05, 2025

Cash for Trash: Can Urban India Monetise Waste for Sustainable Development?

Can India’s cities turn their mounting plastic waste into a circular economy success story through markets, technology, and global partnerships? ...

On the Menu: Japan’s Food Safety Measures
Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 05, 2025

On the Menu: Japan’s Food Safety Measures

Japan, with its strong hygiene culture and crisis-driven regulatory reforms, serves as a global reference point in food safety governance. ...

Towards a Climate-Informed Food Safety Framework for India
Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 05, 2025

Towards a Climate-Informed Food Safety Framework for India

Climate change is reshaping food safety risks in India, demanding urgent integration of climate data into regulatory frameworks. ...

Agroecology for Food Safety: Reducing Risks from Farm to Fork
Climate, Food and Environment | Sustainable Development | Climate Change | Agriculture Jun 05, 2025

Agroecology for Food Safety: Reducing Risks from Farm to Fork

Agroecological systems minimise contamination, enhancing traceability and ensuring safer food from production to consumption. ...

Safe Plates, Strong Economies: Food Safety as a Macroeconomic Priority
Climate, Food and Environment | Economic Reforms | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 05, 2025

Safe Plates, Strong Economies: Food Safety as a Macroeconomic Priority

On World Food Safety Day 2025, it is now time to reframe food safety not as a siloed technical issue but as a macroeconomic priority. ...

Securing Women’s Land Rights: A Pathway to Food Security
Climate, Food and Environment | Gender | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 05, 2025

Securing Women’s Land Rights: A Pathway to Food Security

Despite playing a central role in food systems, women lack secure land rights in more than half of all countries, posing serious implications for food and climate security. ...

From Waste to Harvest: Treated Wastewater for Urban Farming
Climate, Food and Environment | Development | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 05, 2025

From Waste to Harvest: Treated Wastewater for Urban Farming

Urban farming through treated wastewater offers a nature-based solution for reducing freshwater dependence, closing resource loops, and creating resilient communities. ...

UN Plastics Treaty: Bridging Promises and Pitfalls
Climate, Food and Environment | US Domestic Politics | United Nations | Sustainable Development | Climate Change Jun 04, 2025

UN Plastics Treaty: Bridging Promises and Pitfalls

With plastic pollution set to triple by 2060, can the UN's treaty align its climate goals with economic interests and the principles of global equity? ...

Contributors

S. Paul Kapur

S. Paul Kapur

S. Paul Kapur is currently on leave from ORF and is serving as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Between 2020-2021, Mr Kapur served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, ...

Read More + S. Paul Kapur

S. Paul Kapur

S. Paul Kapur is currently on leave from ORF and is serving as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Between 2020-2021, Mr Kapur served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, ...

Read More +