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Climate tech start-ups are essential at this time.

Writer's picture: RISHI KORDERISHI KORDE



India currently ranks seventh on the Global Climate Risk Index 2021, posing a significant challenge to its ambition of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy in the coming years. Several geographical and socio-economic factors contribute to India's acute vulnerability to climate change:

India's extensive coastline makes it susceptible to coastal flooding. From 1990 to 2016, India lost approximately 235 square kilometers of land due to coastal erosion. Agriculture, which accounts for around 18 percent of India's GDP, relies heavily on the monsoon. Consequently, any negative changes in monsoon patterns can significantly impact the economy. The country has a low per capita income and limited social safety nets, which constrain its ability to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. In 2019 alone, floods and cyclones caused nearly USD 10 billion in economic losses in India. The impacts of climate change are tangible, and climate change–induced natural disasters are likely to significantly reduce the country's per capita GDP unless substantial adaptation and mitigation efforts are implemented.

In response, the Indian government has made several ambitious climate action commitments over the past decade, including the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) and the Paris Agreement. While India has made some progress in renewable energy, it lags in meeting other targets, especially regarding carbon capture. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years has justifiably redirected significant funding towards healthcare, diverting it from critical issues like climate action.

Thus far, much of India's climate finance efforts have focused on large, utility-scale renewable projects. Moving forward, a comprehensive and sustained decarbonization of the economy is required across all sectors—food production and consumption, transportation, construction, manufacturing, and retail. Achieving this necessitates innovative solutions that transform how stakeholders interact with the natural environment. Climate tech start-ups offering low-carbon, affordable technologies provide a viable pathway to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale.


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