Policy Brief

Internationalizing Sustainable Lifestyles for Climate Justice

27 Sep 2024
| Dr Shailly Kedia
| Madhuparna Maiti
| Shivangi Raj

Mainstream frameworks on sustainable consumption and production fail to holistically capture downstream segments of resource consumption and production systems, especially in relation to lifestyle choices. Building on previous work by TERI, this policy brief seeks to develop composite metrics on consumption for G20 countries and discusses ways to further internationalize sustainable lifestyles.

Sustainable Organic Waste Management : A Playbook for Lucknow, India

23 Sep 2024
| Ms Shweta Gautam
| Ms. Videesha Velijala

In 2020, global municipal solid waste (MSW) generation reached 2.24 billion tonnes, a figure projected to rise to 3.88 billion tonnes by 2050. This increase will be largely driven by the fastest-growing regions, including sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, where waste levels are expected to double or even triple.

Climate Resilience in Water Resource Management in India: A Conceptual Framework for Action

18 Sep 2024
| Dr Syamal Kumar Sarkar
| Ms Neha Lakhwan
| Dr Girija K Bharat

The water sector in India is facing increasing variability and unpredictability of water resources due to climate change. This is compounded by inadequate infrastructure for water storage and distribution, and the insufficient integration of climate resilience into water management policies. This is highlighted by the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report. Key threats include extreme weather events, rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, and sea level rise, impacting agriculture, industry, ecosystems, and overall water security.

Accelerating Biodiesel Blending in India

18 Sep 2024
| Faiz Jamal

India’s dependency on imported fossil fuels is mounting incessantly. The petroleum products consumption in the country has increased about 38.2% from the past decade, resulting in a substantial expenditure on oil imports.Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that can be produced from non-edible sources, waste oils, animal fats, etc. India’s government is emphasizing energy security with a target of reducing the usage of fossil fuels and import burdens.Several initiatives have been introduced to increase indigenous production of biofuels, as part of the Indian government’s aggressive plan of 20% ethanol in petrol by 2025–26 and 5% biodiesel in diesel by 2030.

Green Public Procurement for Advancing Sustainable Development in India: Policy Nudges for Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production

09 Aug 2024
| Dr Shailly Kedia
| Ishita Srivastava

Green Public Procurement (GPP), a sub-component of sustainable public procurement, seeks to achieve environmental sustainability by leveraging the government sector’s purchasing power. GPP can be defined as the deliberate and systematic integration of environmental objectives into the procurement process of goods, services, and works by public agencies. This policy brief employs a case study-based approach to identify strategies for promoting GPP in India.

SDG Blueprint for Sustainable Agriculture

27 Mar 2024
| Madhuparna Maiti
| Palak Khanna
| Shailly Kedia
| Shivangi Raj
| Manish Anand

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) contain seventeen goals which have a bearing on multiple issue areas including agriculture. This study sought to develop an SDG Blueprint to inform integrated approaches to sustainable agriculture at the national level in India. It is crucial that the lenses of sustainable development, climate action, value chains, and multi-stakeholder approaches be considered for sustainable agriculture to contribute towards food security, livelihoods, and ecosystem integrity. The scope of the study was to examine the national policy interface of sustainable agriculture with SDGs.

Just Transition Framework for a Sustainable Future in India’s Coal Mining Regions

13 Feb 2024
| Dr. Jayanta Mitra
| Ms. Apoorva Singh
| Ms. Arpita Victor

As India's energy mix diversifies, there is increasing attention on achieving a fair and equitable transition that considers the impacts on workers, communities, the environment, and related industries. To address this, TERI has developed a Just Transition Framework, informed by extensive research in India's eastern coal-belt and engagement with diverse stakeholders.

Assessment of Bio-CNG as a Vehicular Fuel in India

13 Feb 2024

Surge in demand for mobility and the consequent consumption of fossil fuels for powering transport vehicles is massive and is increasing rapidly with time. However, with geopolitical tensions, shrinking crude oil reserves, and negative impacts of vehicular emissions on global and local pollution has influenced scientific community to explore alternative and sustainable fuels for the transport sector.

Integration of TADOX® technology to achieve net zero in textile wastewater treatment: Policy recommendations based on pilot study in a CETP

08 Feb 2024

Textile & Coloration Industry faces the most challenging issue of removal of colour and dissolved organics due to the presence of complex dyes and pigments in the effluent, which are not being able to be removed by conventional and biological treatment technologies. Which in turn impacts the biological treatment making is shock prone and leading to inadequate treatment with discharge of coloured effluent through drains in the rivers. This also impacts downstream tertiary treatment and makes ZLD highly resource and energy intensive and hence unsustainable, unaffordable, unacceptable and non-compliant.

Benchmarking Industrial Water Use Efficiency in India: Opportunities for Water-Intensive Industries

08 Feb 2024

The rapid expansion of population and industrial activities in India has led to acknowledging the critical importance of water conservation. Addressing the escalating water usage within water-intensive industries is essential, given their significant contribution to the economy alongside their substantial impact on water resources. Amongst the water-intensive industries, thermal power plants are the highest consumer of water, followed by pulp & paper, textiles, and iron & steel industries. Existing challenges or inefficiencies in water management practices, such as over-extraction, pollution, or lack of wastewater treatment, further exacerbate the situation.