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A private sector-oriented Global Green Bank is required to overcome the market gaps that prevent Global North capital from flowing to the best decarbonisation investment opportunities among Global South enterprises. The Global Green Bank should operate as a world-class investment firm, capable of developing innovative financial solutions and investing through externally raised investment fund-of-funds and its own proprietary book. Such a Global G

Admitting that the government's 'Make in India' initiative will result in increase in carbon emissions as it focuses on manufacturing, and industries, India's Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javedkar emphasises the need for developing countries to get cheaper access to green technology on humanitarian grounds, notwithstanding Intellectual Property Rights.

The recent US decision to suspend training of Afghan local police has underlined the growing worries in Washington over the incidents of Afghan soldiers killing American troops in 2012.

The global effort to meet the targets set by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals will depend crucially on reforming the structure of development finance. Mobilising private capital will be an essential part of this effort, and existing development finance institutions, led by the complex of multilateral development banks (MDBs), will have to re-orient their strategies and functioning to prioritise this mobi

India presents a unique case of balancing decarbonisation efforts with industrial growth. While notable progress is being made in decarbonising the power and transport sectors, reducing industrial emissions poses a formidable challenge. To meet its decarbonisation targets, India will need massive capital flows, projected at US$10.1 trillion by 2070. While green finance will support technologies that align with the Paris Agreement, transition fina

Hamburg wants to go completely car free in the next ten years, and it wants to achieve it by networking all its green Space creating a new paradigm of walkable and cycleable urbanity.

As the threat from climate hazards rise, several global cities have altered their urban planning and design approaches to incorporate nature-driven solutions as a counter to conventional infrastructure practices by harnessing blue elements (for instance, seas, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and water utilities) alongside the green (such as trees, parks, gardens, playgrounds and forests). This paper explores the emerging concept of blue-green in

Climate change has emerged amongst India’s most formidable challenges to sustained GDP growth. To accelerate the implementation of the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and advance its progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, finance is key. India needs to develop a comprehensive strategy and an integrated policy approach that aligns the country’s financial systems with the long-term needs of the economy while incor

An economic return alone might not be sufficient to induce green financing. A more holistic rate of return, considering the social cost of carbon, will be appropriate

The measure of a successful energy transition must go beyond statistics of installed capacity of renewables, investments and number of jobs. While these are important, the face of the transition should become the lives, livelihoods and well-being of the economy

India and the US are poised to expand agricultural cooperation with the hope of bringing about a "Second Green Revolution" in India. Cooperation in this area would, however, need to take into account the interests of Indian farmers as well as issues related to bio-diversity and the environment.

This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilienc

Government agencies at the city, state and central level are paying greater attention to sustainable transport as the way forward for India’s mobility sector. However, for sustainability measures to have lasting outcomes in policy and practice, institutional reforms are urgently needed. The National Urban Transport Policy, which governs India’s urban mobility policymaking, was amended in 2014 to create city-specific, low-carbon mobility solut

The Electric Vehicle (EV) segment in India has gathered momentum in recent years, but a mismatch in intent and action has resulted in limited on-ground adoption of EVs. However, the expected growth of the automobile sector (especially in the personal-mobility space), due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and people’s increased understanding of vehicular emissions, creates immense scope for the exponential growth of the EVs industry in India. Ess

Green jobs in the U.S. are nice, but won’t get India and other big emitters off a carbon-intensive development path.

With natural resources being exploited beyond scope of regeneration, excessive pollutants accumulating in the biosphere, and ecosystems and biodiversity undergoing life-threatening degradation, industrial policies that steer investment towards a greener economy have become an imperative. This paper examines the green component of the industrial policies of 14 Indian states which have been found to be responsible for more than 80 percent o

The agriculture sector’s contribution to India’s GDP and employment makes it crucial to the country’s growth. At the same time, the sector’s massive greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to India’s green transition. The ongoing farmers’ protests also highlight the need for a climate-smart agriculture strategy that will address fundamental issues like income support. This brief outlines a framework for India’s “new green revolutio

Climate change is a global commons problem requiring concerted actions by all. While recognising this, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has also acknowledged the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,’ which assigns greater responsibilities to developed countries in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reducing their carbon footprint. There have also been deliber

With increasing awareness of the role that a healthy and clean environment plays in the well-being of societies, governments are adopting environment-friendly approaches in the conduct of development activities. This brief examines the environment planning proposals contained in the draft Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) for the period 2021-41. Although the MPD proposes many new ideas to improve prevailing conditions as well as a framework to monitor

Sustainable finance emerged as a key issue to tackle climate change at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference and is spurring a global transition to net zero. A peculiar feature of the race to net zero is that it cannot be achieved unless all countries can meet their targets, and any positive step towards it will benefit all countries. The drive to achieve carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions needs to be targeted through a range of

This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilienc

The Delhi government is in no mood for sparing the discoms and discoms on the other hand do not want to give up their inertia. The AAP promised tariff reduction and slashed the same by 50% after coming to power.

The world is currently witnessing an increase in the prevalence of undernourishment as well as a rise in the incidence of overweight, obesity, and non-communicable diseases. Addressing issues of food security and nutrition would not be possible without adopting a food systems perspective—from farm to fork. Indeed, in 2021, countries developed national pathways to transforming food systems to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Developme

The Indian Himalayan Region, spanning 12 Indian states, has long been absent from the centre stage of Indian policy.