Energy use is recognised as a path to development. With the climate crisis looming, what are the choices for developing countries such as India? India has committed to ambitious targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2070 while enhancing NDC goals by 2030. 

However, as a developing country, India also must deal with increasing energy demands in the coming decades as it strives to meet basic development goals and achieve improved living standards for all its citizens. 

Meeting these seemingly opposing objectives (of climate action and development) needs careful consideration of intersectoral dynamics and dependencies to capitalise on synergies and minimise trade-offs.

About the Speaker

Jai Asundi is the Executive Director at the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), Bengaluru, India. CSTEP is a not-for-profit research organisation with a mission to enrich policymaking with innovative approaches, using science and technology for a sustainable, secure, and inclusive society. 

He has been involved in research and development projects in multiple areas and his current focus is on organisational development. He spearheaded the creation of the Centre for Air Pollution Studies at CSTEP. 

His research interests lie in the areas of information technology for development and is working on the development of decisions support systems for a variety of public policy problems. He is a senior member of the IEEE.

About the Moderator

Harini Nagendra is a Professor at Azim Premji University, where she leads the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability. Her research focuses on social-ecological transformations in South Asia. 

Nagendra received a 2013 Elinor Ostrom Senior Scholar award for her research and practice on urban commons. Her 2016 book Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future examines the implications of environmental change for cities of the global South. 

Her latest book, The Bangalore Detectives Club, is a historical detective novel based in 1920s colonial Bangalore.