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The document outlines a pilot project by Natural Justice and partners to implement biocultural community protocols (BCPs) in four countries to safeguard community rights against extractive industries. It details specific regional efforts—addressing infrastructure and oil/gas/coal in Kenya, diamond mining in Zimbabwe, lithium mining in Argentina, and various mining forms in India—while identifying BCPs as tools for internal consensus and external rights assertion. The report highlights successes in community mobilization and challenges such as political will, safety threats, and the difficulty of defining 'community' in non-homogenous groups.

The report examines how the removal of fossil-fuel subsidies for LPG, kerosene, diesel, and electricity affects men and women differently in India. It finds that current subsidies largely fail rural women, who rely heavily on biomass, and that shifting to cash transfers via bank accounts creates barriers for women due to lower financial inclusion. The author argues for gender-responsive budgeting and targeted interventions to prevent women from reverting to dirtier fuels while promoting their empowerment.

The Mining Zone Peoples’ Solidarity Group has petitioned the Indian government to stop iron ore mining in the Khandadhar mountain range in Odisha. The group argues that mining by companies such as POSCO and Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited (KCCL) is causing severe environmental damage, including the pollution of the Khandadhara waterfall and the destruction of vital elephant corridors. The petition highlights the threat to the Pauri Bhuiyan, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, asserting that mining activities and forced displacement constitute 'ethnocide' and violate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The document details CDKN's efforts in India, focusing on integrating climate change with disaster risk reduction (DRR) and promoting green growth. Key initiatives include addressing heat-health vulnerability in Ahmadabad, improving disaster management planning in Leh, and researching climate-adapted shelter design. It also highlights the challenges facing the adoption of green construction technologies in India, such as lack of technical capacity, inadequate assessment tools, and bureaucratic hurdles.

The document outlines strategies for Low Carbon, Climate Resilient (LCCR) construction in semi-arid regions, focusing on Madhya Pradesh, India. It examines the cyclic link between construction and climate change, detailing how the sector contributes to emissions through energy-intensive materials like steel and cement, while also being vulnerable to extreme weather. The manual provides technical guidance on passive design strategies—such as high thermal mass, cross-ventilation, and shading—to reduce operational energy. It further details alternative building technologies for walls (e.g., Stabilized Compressed Earth Blocks, Rat-trap Bond) and roofs (e.g., Filler Slabs, Ferrocement Channel Roofing) to lower embodied energy. Finally, it discusses policy frameworks in India and Madhya Pradesh aimed at promoting sustainable habitats and eco-friendly rural housing.

The report details a meeting in Bangalore where partners discussed using Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) to empower communities in South Asia, specifically analyzing their utility under India's Biodiversity Act, 2002 and Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Carbon Market Watch expresses concern that royalty payments—defined as the free supply of a portion of generated electricity (typically 13%) to state governments—are not being accounted for in the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) calculations for hydro power projects in India. The organization asserts that this practice artificially keeps the IRR below benchmarks, specifically citing Project 5788, a 15 MW Small Hydro Electric Project in the State of Orissa.

The document details CDKN's efforts in India to integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) with climate change adaptation (CCA), specifically through technical assistance to state governments and research on gender-responsive policies and resilient construction.

The report examines the tension between India's centralized conservation laws, such as the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, and the rights of forest-dependent communities. It highlights the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (FRA) as a critical tool for securing community tenure and management rights. The document details various types of CCAs, including sacred groves and community-managed forests, while criticizing the 'ecodevelopment' model and the lack of legal recognition for marine and wetland conservation initiatives. It concludes with recommendations for legal reforms to prioritize site-specific, decentralized governance and the recognition of customary laws.

The document examines how DFI lending through financial intermediaries (FIs) reduces transparency, weakens environmental and social safeguards, and often fails to reach the poorest populations compared to direct investment. It highlights specific cases of land disputes and environmental degradation in India and Brazil, and recommends that DFIs prioritize local ownership, increase public disclosure of sub-projects, and implement stricter due diligence focused on development impact.

The document details how Orissa became the first Indian state to produce a Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), utilizing a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to develop a five-year blueprint in six months. It highlights the importance of political leadership, inter-departmental coordination, and the integration of climate actions into state budgetary processes, while noting that planning can proceed despite significant information gaps in climate projections.

The report argues that India's push for jatropha to meet biodiesel targets has led to the forced displacement of tribal and lower-caste communities from their traditional lands. While promoted as a pro-poor, non-food crop for 'waste land', the report finds that jatropha often displaces food crops and common resources, fails to thrive due to poor understanding of growing conditions, and is unlikely to be commercially viable as a monoculture.

The document examines the evolution of India's power sector, highlighting the transition from state-run electricity boards (SEBs) to a restructured model involving independent power producers (IPPs) and privatization. It details the 'Orissa Model' promoted by the World Bank, the failures of the 1991 IPP policy, and the subsequent scaling of restructuring to other states like Andhra Pradesh. The authors argue that political expediency and financial crises often overrode social and environmental goals, leading to institutional 'lock-ins' such as agricultural subsidies and expensive long-term power purchase agreements.

The India-UK partnership focuses on making Indian cities climate-smart by integrating climate risk data into urban planning and infrastructure. Key initiatives include the 'Future Proofing Indian Cities' programme, which assessed 59 cities for environmental risks, and the 'Disaster Proofing Indian Smart Cities' project, which provides guidance on the resilience of Digital Information Technology (DIT). The partnership has delivered specific action plans and investment strategies for cities such as Mysore, Madurai, Bangalore, Aluva, and Kolkata, while also supporting the development of national Heat Action Plans to combat increasing extreme heat waves.

The India-UK Energy for Growth Partnership has focused on creating tools for energy scenario planning, reforming gas and power markets to reduce import dependence, and identifying climate finance mechanisms for Indian cities. Key initiatives include the 'India Energy Security Scenarios 2047' tool and the adoption of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to align energy planning with social and green growth objectives.

The document details the India-UK Energy for Growth Partnership, focusing on four main areas of cooperation: capacity building for legislators, off-grid renewable ventures, the development of the offshore wind market, and the scaling of solar initiatives. It highlights the UK's role in providing technical advisory, financial modeling, and policy frameworks to help India reach its target of 175GW of renewable energy by 2022. Key efforts include the creation of the 'Renewable Energy Local Area Development toolkit' for legislators and the formulation of the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy in 2016.

India aims for net-zero emissions by 2070, with interim 2030 goals including 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity and 50% energy requirements from renewables. The transition faces significant hurdles, including a heavy reliance on coal (84% of power generation) and high import dependency for crude oil and solar components. Financial requirements are immense, estimated between USD 5.7 trillion by 2050 and USD 10.1 trillion by 2070. The report emphasizes the need for a 'just transition' to protect the livelihoods of approximately 13 million people dependent on coal mining and to address regional economic imbalances. Opportunities for acceleration include the green hydrogen policy, expansion of offshore wind, and the development of domestic energy storage manufacturing to reduce reliance on China.

The document identifies specific steel clusters in India—including Angul, Rourkela, Raigarh, Raipur, Jamshedpur, Durgapur, and Vizag—and assesses their CO2 emissions against available storage capacities in saline aquifers, coal fields, and basalt formations. It provides a comparative list of global operational CCUS projects and outlines the regulatory and financial support mechanisms for CCUS in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and China.

The report identifies four priority sub-sectors for green investment in India: Green Hydrogen, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), and Waste Management & Material Circularity. It highlights a significant investment gap, noting that India may face a shortfall of $3.5 trillion to achieve its net-zero target. For Green Hydrogen, the report emphasizes the need to reduce costs from above $4/kg to $2/kg to achieve economic viability. In the BESS sector, it projects annual battery demand between 106 GWh and 260 GWh by 2030. Climate Smart Agriculture is presented as a critical area for both mitigation and adaptation, though currently underfunded in upstream and on-farm solutions. Waste Management is highlighted as a $45 billion market opportunity by 2030, with a specific focus on the growing potential of lithium-ion battery recycling. The document also argues for the urgent scaling of private adaptation financing, noting that 80% of key adaptation markets in India are currently nascent or mid-level.

The document describes coal ash as a toxic industrial waste stream containing carcinogens and neurotoxins that contaminate air, soil, and water when improperly managed. It evaluates various disposal methods, identifying unlined surface impoundments as the most hazardous and encapsulated reuse in concrete or gypsum as the safest. The guide outlines specific technical standards for landfills and ponds—including impermeable liners, groundwater monitoring, and siting prohibitions—and argues for enforceable, site-specific permits and financial assurance to ensure long-term remediation.