Sustainable Futures Collaborative

2024 has been an exciting year for SFC! We launched with a bold vision: to address India’s climate and environmental challenges by rethinking science, policy, governance, and institutions. Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve done and achieved this year. Our launch: - In March, we officially launched SFC in New Delhi with over 250 people in attendance. NK Singh (Chair of the 15th Finance Commission) gave an inaugural lecture, followed by an expert panel debating ways to lay the groundwork for India’s sustainable future. https://lnkd.in/gqcyGkEq - We launched our website www.sustainablefutures.org, a logo and identity, and our perspectives on our four research areas - Adaptation and Resilience, Climate Policy, Energy Transitions, and Environmental Governance and Policy. https://lnkd.in/gVUda8ZF - We expanded to a team of 21 intellectually driven and socially committed individuals. Experts from various disciplines and sectors joined our Advisory Council to guide our research and outreach. https://bit.ly/3PdRpZM - We released our first Annual Report! https://bit.ly/49Rxg4W Key research and engagement: - Partnered with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and civil society organisations to develop a national heat preparedness framework focusing on decentralised, local solutions. - Published a study in The Lancet Planetary Health on the link between air pollution and mortality in 10 Indian cities. https://bit.ly/3zBXdHE - Organised a webinar on the key issues in climate finance negotiations at COP 29 with global experts, and released an issue brief on the topic. https://bit.ly/4fzgWat - Wrote on the need for a climate law tailored to India’s unique context, proposing an institutional framework to operationalise it. https://bit.ly/4gR0tiR - Participated in NITI Aayog’s Working Groups exploring pathways to India’s net zero transition by 2070 (macroeconomics and finance) Global and local collaborations: - We participated in and contributed to several key events and discussions, including the What Works Climate Solutions Summit in Berlin, the Heat Rising Convening at Azim Premji University, and the Just Transition Dialogues at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. - We collaborated with leading organisations and institutions such as Asar, WRI India, Prayas (Energy Group), Pune, Harvard University, Karolinska Institutet, Brown University, The Fletcher School at Tufts University, Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University to strengthen our research and advocacy efforts. We look forward to building on this work and engaging with you in the year ahead!

Caleb Dresser MD MPH, Director of Healthcare Solutions and Faculty, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health collaborated with Aditya Valiathan Pillai and Bhargav Krishna, Convenors of Sustainable Futures Collaborative to assess how heat affects emergency care systems and identify policy approaches to strengthen health security against climate challenges. Building on research supported by the Mittal Institute India office through a faculty grant, the findings of the project aim to guide adaptation strategies for Indian healthcare in a rapidly warming world. On November 29th, healthcare professionals and public health experts convened virtually to discuss the research findings. The roundtable examined the rising impact of extreme heat exposure, including reports from Indian health professionals of increased healthcare utilization and cases of heat-related illness ranging from heat stroke to dehydration, emphasizing the critical link between health outcomes, cooling access, and water security. The speakers called for integrating climate change into medical curricula, forming climate-focused hospital subcommittees, and ensuring sustainable water access. Read more about it here: https://lnkd.in/gjNm83Uy Image 1: Attendees at the workshop on heat and healthcare in India Image 2: Where were survey respondents located Image 3: How did patients with heat-related medical problems present clinically

“The expectation is that they will self-regulate, but we know well that asking industries to do so is not necessarily the best idea” - Bhargav Krishna on exemption of dual approvals for polluting industries to set up operations. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g4zPRkxh

“Adaptation finance will be of limited use in reducing vulnerability until we build an institutional structure and political conditions that know how to deploy it correctly. Prior conditions to adaptation finance need to be met if the objective is to save lives.” Aditya Valiathan Pillai at a discussion on 'Climate challenges & opportunities' by the Global Centre for Environment and Energy - Ahmedabad University today.

NEW: In this collaborative Climate Policy Journal article, Easwaran J Narassimhan, Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Megan Mahajan and Robbie Orvis identify a possible scenario that could zero out India’s CO2 emissions by 2050, leaving about a gigaton of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions to be decarbonised by 2070 to meet India's #netzero goal. Using expert insights and the 'India Energy Policy Simulator' (an open-source system dynamics emissions-economy model https://lnkd.in/gjMabjM7), their study analyses existing national climate policies and identifies additional policies needed to realise this goal. The study highlights that net-zero could be a net socio-economic positive, enhancing job creation and GDP growth than business-as-usual provided India: 1) implements near-term readiness policies in this decade for enhanced decarbonisation later, 2) addresses the fiscal and distributional implications of government revenue shifts through the energy transition, and 3) bridges the gap between its domestic clean energy manufacturing capacity and future deployment requirements. Read this timely contribution here as India prepares to revise its NDC commitments: https://lnkd.in/gDvsgMV9

The #NCQG outcome shows that "progress in future negotiations will require greater understanding of each country’s domestic challenges, and working around them to revisit and ratchet both the quantum and the accountability. This will need to happen rapidly, to ensure that multilateralism retains its trust and effectiveness in meaningfully addressing climate change", write Aman Srivastava and Nikita Shukla. Read more: https://t.co/Z2Je7i1hKW

The #NCQG outcome at #COP29 has been criticised for not meeting climate finance needs and shifting responsibility from developed nations. In our first blog, Aman Srivastava and Nikita Shukla explore where it missed the mark, whether developed countries have a defence, and how future COPs can improve climate finance delivery. https://lnkd.in/gBbxFRzb

SFC is now also on #Bluesky! Follow us there for our latest research and analysis on climate change, energy, and the environment in India and globally: https://lnkd.in/g3_ZmNsp

‼️ 🇮🇳 OPEN ACCESS: Net zero could be a net socio-economic positive for India, find Easwaran J Narassimhan, Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Megan Mahajan and Robbie Orvis (The Fletcher School at Tufts University, Climate Policy Lab, Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC, Sustainable Futures Collaborative). India must focus on: 🟢 Green energy innovation and industrial policies 🟢 Bridging the clean energy manufacturing-deployment gap 🟢 Individual sector readiness for decarbonization 🟢 Managing fiscal revenue implications of decarbonization Read more ⤵️

“Adapting to climate change means not just addressing the immediate impacts of a climate disaster but planning to address those we haven’t even foreseen the scale of yet--intense and long heatwaves, storm surges, or sea level rises” - Bhargav Krishna at a webinar on ‘Climate Change: South Asia’s Biggest Threat?’ organised by The Democracy Forum. Watch the entire conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gZThVZtF