Madhav Pai spoke to indianexpress.com on the tech tools developed by WRI India, their work with startups, the challenges of clean energy transition, issues with urban transit and the need to collect large amounts of data to make meaningful policy changes.
As India embarks on a pathway to strong climate action, it is faced with the simultaneous challenge of meeting its development goals. Moreover, the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy at scale will require a profound transformation of the Indian economy: some economic sectors are likely to grow while others decline, resulting in differing impacts on workers, regions, and communities.
India is currently the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) after China and the United States and is set to experience continued growth in its population, economy, and energy consumption. Exploring low-carbon development pathways for India is therefore crucial for achieving the goal of global decarbonization. India has pledged to reduce the emission intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 33–35 per cent relative to 2005 levels by 2030 through its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), among other related targets for the renewable energy and forestry sectors.