Search: For - climate

1444 results found

A Roadmap for India’s Climate Cooperation with Pacific Small Island Developing States
Aug 16, 2023

A Roadmap for India’s Climate Cooperation with Pacific Small Island Developing States

Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) are highly vulnerable to disasters emanating from the impacts of climate change, geopolitical tensions, and fluctuations in global energy markets. To overcome this, the PSIDS have committed to ambitious carbon reduction targets, and to adopting renewable energy and low carbon emission initiatives. However, they must contend with critical barriers, such as the lack of finance, capacity, and te

A Stocktaking of BRICS Performance in Climate Action
Feb 14, 2022

A Stocktaking of BRICS Performance in Climate Action

Global temperature rise is set to exceed 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels by 2100. Efforts to ramp up climate action must be accompanied by an assessment of countries' existing strategies to combat climate change. At the same time, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of multilateral institutions in mitigating climate change by galvanising member countries in this direction. This report presents a comparative analysis based on fiv

An 'India exception' for climate talks
Jan 23, 2015

An 'India exception' for climate talks

If the U.S. partners with India for more efficient industrialisation and supports an "India exception" in global climate talks, it could be the kind of investment that cements ties between these two countries. From the perspective of a stable international order, it would be a big deal; from the perspective of climate talks, it is the only realistic path forward.

An ‘India Exception’ and India-US Partnership on Climate Change
Sep 13, 2023

An ‘India Exception’ and India-US Partnership on Climate Change

The authors propose an 'India exception' in global climate talks as the only realistic pathway to a global climate deal, which could also be a key tool in cementing stronger ties between India and the US, two critical actors in the evolving international order.

Artificial intelligence technologies have a climate cost
Feb 04, 2022

Artificial intelligence technologies have a climate cost

The AI-climate change link is understudied, not least because the largest companies working in this space are neither transparent nor meaningfully committed to understanding it

Assam floods reinforce the need for climate-resilient infrastructure
Jul 27, 2020

Assam floods reinforce the need for climate-resilient infrastructure

As extreme events are becoming the ‘new normal’ in an increasingly climate-constrained world, India’s critical infrastructure must be built to withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from the disruptions they cause

Assessing Biden’s Climate Agenda: Bold Promises, Slow Results
Aug 14, 2023

Assessing Biden’s Climate Agenda: Bold Promises, Slow Results

The Biden administration’s climate agenda is a crucial plank to restore American commitments to climate actions and reinstate US leadership globally. However, the agenda has been slow on results. Although the climate fight has been linked to most other federal goals, such as economy, jobs, infrastructure, and procurements, the Biden administration faces both domestic and external challenges that continue to limit how much it can achieve

Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Public Health and Nutrition Security
Mar 22, 2024

Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Public Health and Nutrition Security

Climate change poses a significant risk to global food security. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and shifting precipitation patterns impact food production, disrupting food supply chains, increasing food prices, and diminishing food safety. These effects are particularly apparent in developing countries, where vulnerable populations struggle to access nutritious foods and small farmers face financial challenges. Tackling the impacts

Atmanirbhar Bharat: Missing a focus on air pollution and climate change
May 12, 2023

Atmanirbhar Bharat: Missing a focus on air pollution and climate change

Will the government’s ambitious mission, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)’ eventually prove to be a missed opportunity? Earmarking funds worth 10 percent of India’s GDP, the mission not only aims to respond to the devastating blow caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to serve as a long-term roadmap to growth. It is largely hinged on business-as-usual practices, including providing a push to the coal sector, which may be under

BIMSTEC and climate change: Setting a common agenda
Oct 18, 2017

BIMSTEC and climate change: Setting a common agenda

The BIMSTEC region is among the most vulnerable in the world from increased threat due to climate change. In the foreseeable future, climate change is projected to affect each BIMSTEC member country with greater severity and frequency, thereby impeding their response capacity significantly. This brief explores the vulnerability of the region from climate change and the BIMSTEC-level initiatives that have taken place to address the issue. Although

BIMSTEC countries and climate change: Imperatives for action
Jun 27, 2019

BIMSTEC countries and climate change: Imperatives for action

This brief discusses the climate change challenges facing the member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the initiatives taken by them to mitigate the effects. The South Asian countries within BIMSTEC are particularly vulnerable to global warming-induced weather variations that cause economic damage and loss of lives. At the same time, BIMSTEC economies have achieved impressiv

Bridging the gap: Addressing international barriers to climate action projects in the developing world
Dec 12, 2017

Bridging the gap: Addressing international barriers to climate action projects in the developing world

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

Bridging the Gaps in Public Finance for Climate Adaptation
Nov 27, 2024

Bridging the Gaps in Public Finance for Climate Adaptation

The current gap in global adaptation finance for developing countries is estimated at US$194-366 billion per year. This brief highlights the critical role of domestic public funding in driving adaptation initiatives. While international climate finance mechanisms exist, their effectiveness is limited by slow disbursement processes and regional disparities in fund distribution. Public finance management systems can act as catalysts for mobilising

Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems
Aug 16, 2023

Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems

Climate change, conflicts, and various crises have exposed the vulnerabilities of global food systems. Acute food insecurity and undernourishment have become more prevalent in recent times, and the imperative is to build more robust and sustainable food systems that do not adversely impact the environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has only underlined the importance of food security in times of crises. This brief explores the promise of clima

Calibrating India's climate-change response
Jul 28, 2014

Calibrating India's climate-change response

The most critical area for India's response to climate change must be adaptation. It needs to invest in actions against the imminent threats posed by climate change irrespective of how the global discourse progresses. Investments must be made through innovative channels, using a mixture of capacity-building programmes, awareness campaigns, traditional solutions, and new technologies.

COVID-19, Blue Economy, and the Climate Change Agenda: The case of Seychelles
May 18, 2020

COVID-19, Blue Economy, and the Climate Change Agenda: The case of Seychelles

The human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating. At the same time, measures to tackle the crisis have affected national economies and grounded global trade to a halt. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as the Seychelles are amongst the countries that have suffered some of the worst economic impacts of the outbreak. The current situation illustrates the global state of unpreparedness for a pandemic and points to similar inadeq

Driving the G20’s Climate Agenda: Priorities for India’s Presidency
May 01, 2023

Driving the G20’s Climate Agenda: Priorities for India’s Presidency

India has assumed the G20 presidency at a critical and opportune time in history, even as the half-yearly report card indicates that consensus-building in the grouping has been more difficult than India may have expected. This brief identifies six areas where India can manifest its capability to lead the building of an effective and plausible climate action plan. Globally, championing the tracking of per-capita emissions and fossil fuel-b

Emerging challenges in an urbanising India: Governance, security and climate change
Nov 18, 2014

Emerging challenges in an urbanising India: Governance, security and climate change

As part of a three-year research project undertaken by ORF and PRIO to study and analyse urban governance, urban security and environment related trends and concerns in selected regions of India, an international conference was organised on "Emerging Challenges in an Urbanising India: Governance, Security and Climate Change".

Enhancing Access to Urban Climate Finance: Learnings from Four Cities in India
May 22, 2024

Enhancing Access to Urban Climate Finance: Learnings from Four Cities in India

This brief discusses the challenges faced by urban local bodies (ULBs) in India in accessing urban climate finance (UCF), and proposes solutions based on successful strategies used by some of them. The hurdles include institutional barriers and limited capacity. The brief finds that ULBs that have met with success in accessing UCF overcame the obstacles through early sensitisation programmes and global network connections. It offers plausible sol

Environmental security in the Sundarban in the current climate change era: Strengthening India-Bangladesh cooperation
Nov 01, 2019

Environmental security in the Sundarban in the current climate change era: Strengthening India-Bangladesh cooperation

The Sundarban ecoregion, straddling India and Bangladesh, is home to the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world. Parts of the forest are designated as World Heritage Sites in both countries due to their rich biodiversity. The natural areas of the Sundarban are influenced by human use and, in recent years, increasingly by climate change. This paper explores an institutional arrangement that could help identify and implement the options th

Exploring the Inequities of Climate Finance
Aug 14, 2023

Exploring the Inequities of Climate Finance

Over the last few decades, a global climate finance architecture has emerged to channel domestic and international funds towards climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. However, mobilising climate capital at scale has been a challenge, particularly in the Global South, since the current financial system is inept at including climate change metrics in its capital allocation and disbursement processes, and applying a climate justi

Focus of climate finance needs to change
Oct 18, 2019

Focus of climate finance needs to change

For poorer countries, funds for ‘adaptation’ make more sense than ‘mitigation’. A retreat from climate hotspots is to be explored

From India’s G20 to UAE’s COP28 – A new pathway for climate action
Dec 01, 2023

From India’s G20 to UAE’s COP28 – A new pathway for climate action

From the Abu Dhabi conference, the urgent call for action should resonate loud and clear throughout COP28 in and create a dynamic and durable pathway

From Rio to Paris: India in global climate politics
Dec 24, 2017

From Rio to Paris: India in global climate politics

This paper analyses India’s participation in more than two decades of global climate politics. India has transitioned from a protest voice on the fringes of global climate policy to one that is actively shaping international efforts to combat climate change. Analysis of the drivers behind India’s negotiating positions on climate change thus far has focused on the competing motives of equity and co-benefits, which has however been insufficient

From Risk to Resilience: Climate Vulnerability Assessments in India
Aug 22, 2023

From Risk to Resilience: Climate Vulnerability Assessments in India

Climate adaptation has been at the forefront of UN climate negotiations over the past decade, given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events at the global, national, and sub-national levels. Climate vulnerability and risk assessments (VRA) are essential for adaptation planning, as they help identify areas, populations, and systems that are most at-risk from the impacts of climate change. They can also be used as a tool to develop adapta

From theory to practice: Perspectives on Climate-Smart agriculture in India and Africa
Apr 24, 2019

From theory to practice: Perspectives on Climate-Smart agriculture in India and Africa

As global food production faces the negative consequences of climate change, best practices in climate-smart agriculture (CSA) must be promoted to achieve food security. This requires adequate financial and human resources to be channeled to the upscaling of CSA activities in high-impact, priority areas. Considering India and Africa’s complementary sectoral priorities and their similar roles in evolving global food markets, various opportunitie

G20 should have demonstrated power of numbers and guided future of climate governance
Jul 10, 2017

G20 should have demonstrated power of numbers and guided future of climate governance

The alignment of G20 policies with the Sustainable Development Goals, and emphasis on energy security, is high on India’s climate agenda.

Great walls: Addressing domestic barriers to climate action projects in India
Dec 11, 2017

Great walls: Addressing domestic barriers to climate action projects in India

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

Green Bonds: Key to fighting climate change?
Oct 18, 2019

Green Bonds: Key to fighting climate change?

To successfully combat climate change, there is an urgent need to finance mitigation and adaptation efforts at various levels. Green bonds are a relatively new funding instrument for green projects that have steadily become the first line of defence against climate change. India, in particular, has immense scope to diversify the green bond market beyond renewable energy. This brief analyses the policy structure of countries that have successfully

Green Bonds: The latest innovation in climate finance
May 12, 2014

Green Bonds: The latest innovation in climate finance

India spends over 2.6 per cent of its GDP to deal with challenges of climate change. Still, resource scarcity and other priorities make it a challenge to find matching financial resources for mitigating climate change. Green Bonds have the potential to significantly change the climate change landscape of India.

Harnessing the Power of India’s Forests for Climate Change Mitigation
May 12, 2023

Harnessing the Power of India’s Forests for Climate Change Mitigation

Forests help mitigate the impacts of climate change, provide economic benefits for the country, and meet specific facets of India’s sustainable development goals. It is essential, therefore, to revisit India’s forest governance and evaluate the country’s efforts at forest restoration and conservation. This brief examines the current state of India’s forests, explores the effectiveness of forest restoration and conservation measures, and r

How prepared is our military for climate change?
Oct 05, 2013

How prepared is our military for climate change?

The US Navy has already developed a generic "Road Map" against climate change while we are yet to assess the impact of such changes, let alone formulate doctrinal responses. Let us not get caught napping.