TERI has been actively involved in providing inputs to the Government of India on climate change related challenges and opportunities at the national level and lending technical assistance for policy papers like the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) identifies measures that simultaneously promote the country's development as well as climate change related objectives of adaptation and mitigation.

TERI was involved in the formulation of the NAPCC with its study titled "Energy-efficient pathways for sustainable development in India" which proposed a comprehensive roadmap for sustainable development in India.

An analysis of technology and policy options was conducted for major energy consuming sectors that are important in spurring economic growth and at the same time have implications on resource use and environment. The outcome of this study was fed into the formulation of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

TERI has been closely associated with the MoEF as part of the core group discussions on climate change; climate, energy and impacts modeling as well as in assisting the 3-member committee of the PMO constituted during the formulation of the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

It has contributed to developing long term and integrated strategies for achieving the eight mission which form the core of the plan, particularly the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), the National Mission on Sustainable Habitats, National Water Mission and the National Solar Mission.

Some important issues that needed to be taken care of in NMSA were identified. They included climate change impacts on rain-fed agriculture, key dimensions and possible options of adaptation and mitigation, existing policy initiatives, measures for improving policy development and implementation for meeting the identified adaptation and mitigation needs.

It also included investments to be made in existing technologies and practices that have the relevant potential for meeting adaptation and mitigation needs, institutional arrangements for implementation of the activities identified for climate change adaptation and mitigation at National and State levels and key cross-cutting issues across sectors including linkages with other National Missions.

It was instrumental in reviewing the NMSA document and helped the agriculture ministry in finalizing it and has also made significant inputs to the National solar mission.

TERI has provided critical inputs towards the formulation of the National Mission document on Sustainable Habitats and is also contributing to achieving its objectives. It has set up standards for green buildings which are called Green Rating of Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) and helped harmonize several codes and standards related to energy efficiency in buildings which was one of the key components of the National Mission on Sustainable Habitats. TERI's inputs also include comparative assessment of rate of recycling of municipal solid waste in countries like US, Germany, Japan and India and assessment of GHG emission intensity from waste in these countries.

TERI also assisted the Government of India in presenting the highlights of the NAPCC in the international fora at the UNFCCC's Climate Change Talk at Accra, Ghana in August 2008.