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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 report analyzes the rapeseed/mustard oil sector in India, highlighting its economic importance and the challenges posed by price volatility. It examines various government interventions, including Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and the Public Distribution System (PDS), while recommending improvements in productivity, futures market regulation, and tax rationalization to stabilize revenues for farmers and the state.

An analysis of 52 Indian CDM projects registered by May 2006 reveals a systemic preference for barrier analysis over investment analysis, with significant gaps in transparency and evidence. The study finds that while 94% of projects use barrier tests, only 33% conduct investment analyses, and only 50% identify alternatives. Detailed case studies of JSW Steel and Bajaj Auto illustrate that the CDM Executive Board's additionality assessments are inconsistent, often depending on how information is 'packaged' by developers. The author concludes that validators frequently fail to critically evaluate barrier claims, potentially allowing non-additional projects to increase net global emissions.

The report examines adaptive policy-making in the agriculture and water sectors of India and Canada. It proposes a conceptual framework distinguishing between adaptability to anticipated conditions (using 'no-regrets' policies and automatic triggers) and unanticipated conditions (using structured learning and complex adaptive systems principles). Through case studies—including weather-indexed insurance and price policies in India, and the Crow Rate and Conservation Districts in Canada—the authors argue that devolved decision-making and alignment with ecological boundaries (such as watersheds) enhance a policy's ability to respond to unforeseen changes.

The report examines the proliferation of subsidies in India across agriculture, energy, and industrial sectors, highlighting a significant gap between official budgetary estimates and actual costs. It argues that while subsidies are intended for welfare and food security, they often result in regressive distribution, environmental degradation, and financial instability for state entities. The document specifically analyzes the impact of irrigation, power, and fertilizer subsidies on the environment and equity, and reviews India's export incentive schemes and their compatibility with WTO rules, including specific disputes in the iron and steel sector.

The report critiques the World Bank's renewed focus on high-risk/high-reward projects in extractive industries, forestry, and large dams. It argues that the Bank's history is marked by 'institutional amnesia,' where past failures—such as mass displacement and environmental devastation—are ignored in favor of an 'approval culture' that overstates benefits and understates costs. The authors highlight specific cases like the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India and the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to demonstrate how the poor and the environment bear the risks while private investors reap the rewards. The report recommends a shift toward low-risk, community-driven development and the establishment of reparations for past damages.

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 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.

The document discusses the application of extreme event attribution to understand the role of climate change in specific weather events, using two Indian case studies to illustrate the complexities of vulnerability and the masking effects of aerosols.

The Raising Risk Awareness (RRA) project focused on applying extreme event attribution to understand the role of climate change in specific weather events in Ethiopia, India, and Kenya, while using the Surging Seas tool to assess coastal flooding risk in Bangladesh. The project sought to bridge the gap between science, communication, and policy to improve disaster risk management in developing countries.

The document describes the methodology for the Indian States’ Electricity Transition analysis, which evaluates 16 states representing approximately 90% of India's annual power requirement. The analysis uses 17 parameters across four dimensions: Decarbonisation, Performance of the Power System, Readiness of the Power Ecosystem, and Policies and Political Commitments. Data for financial year 2021-22 was primarily sourced from government entities such as the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and NITI Aayog, then normalised and weighted by sectoral experts to produce state-wise scores.

The report evaluates 16 Indian states on their electricity transition across four dimensions: decarbonisation, power system performance, ecosystem readiness, and policy commitments. Karnataka is identified as the top performer across all dimensions, while states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are urged to ramp up efforts. The analysis highlights that many renewable-rich states have significant untapped potential and recommends improving data transparency, strengthening transmission infrastructure, and expanding green market mechanisms to accelerate the transition.

In 2025, the BRICS nations experienced their largest power capacity expansion on record, characterized by a 'split transition' where both fossil fuels and renewables reached historic highs. While 125 GW of new coal, oil, and gas capacity was added, solar and wind additions totaled 497 GW. This growth was heavily concentrated in China and India, where record renewable deployment began to reduce coal-fired generation despite continued coal capacity expansion. In contrast, other BRICS members like Russia and Iran remain overwhelmingly fossil-based, while Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, and the UAE show varying degrees of renewable growth and fossil fuel reliance.

The report details the traditional ecological knowledge and resource governance of communities in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, while highlighting systemic challenges regarding land tenure, relocation, and the lack of basic amenities.

The paper analyzes the policy landscape for clean energy transition in India's MSME sector from 2010-2020, highlighting that while government commitment exists, adoption is hindered by awareness gaps, burdensome application processes, and a shift in SME priorities toward pandemic recovery. It finds that the integration of central and state schemes is more effective than stand-alone state programs.

The document examines the integration of electricity into social sector policies in India, highlighting a gap between the recognized importance of power for health and education and the actual policy mechanisms to implement it. It identifies a lack of interdepartmental coordination, financial flexibility, and data convergence as primary barriers, noting that some policies inadvertently exclude underserved facilities by making electricity a prerequisite for aid.

The document introduces a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) tool designed to evaluate the financial feasibility of solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) in Rajasthan. By utilizing metrics such as net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), benefit-to-cost ratio, and payback period, the tool aims to demonstrate the monetary benefits for farmers, DISCOMs, and the state government. The transition to SIPs is intended to reduce the state's heavy electricity subsidies for agriculture, lower carbon footprints by avoiding power procurement, and provide farmers with additional income through feeding excess electricity back into the grid.