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Cropland–based agricultural activities emit 34.13% of the total non-carbon dioxide emission in India as of 2007 and contribute 63% of the gross value added from agriculture as of 2014–15. It accounts for 24.17% of the India's total methane and 95.84% of the total nitrous oxide emission from agricultural sector. This article analyzes the change in non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases emission overtime from India's cropland based agricultural activities for the period of 1980–81 to 2014–15 and uses Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index to identify the factors that are driving this emission change. Results show that during the study period methane emission from paddy cultivation declines at statistically insignificant rate of 200 tonnes per year whereas nitrous oxide emission from nitrogen-fertilizer use increases by approximately 358%, growing at a statistically significant rate of 5100 tonnes per year. Fertilizer intensity contributes 48% in the growth of non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases emission from cropland based agricultural activities followed by affluence and population growth. On the contrary structural change of the economy with declining relative contribution of agriculture in national gross domestic product, improved productivity of fertilizer use, declining cultivated land per unit of agricultural output and declining emission intensity are helping to reduce emission. Empirical analysis clearly show link between fertilizer policy intervention and nitrous oxide emissions indicating role of policy as an important driver in managing non-carbon dioxide emission from India's cropland–based agricultural activities. • Methane emission from paddy fields in India declined marginally during 1980–2015. • Years when yield from fertilizer use increased non-CO 2 emission came down. • Fertilizer policy led to unbalanced use of N-fertilizer increasing N 2 O emission. • Intensive agricultural practices in India are pulling down non-CO 2 emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste reduction at consumer end and balanced, sustainable healthy dietary choices featuring less meat and less processed food have clear climate change mitigation benefits. This paper synthesises the existing body of literature (2015 to 2022) following systematic evidence search and screening using Scopus database and Google Scholar to explore the link of these two demand side mitigation options with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Assessment shows that these mitigation options not only have synergies with energy saving (SDG 7) goal but are intricately linked with awareness and educational programmes (SDG 4 and SDG 12) along with technological solutions/innovation (SDG 9), much broader innovative policy designs (SDG 16) going beyond market incentives, and involvement of multiple social actors (SDG 17). In aggregate, synergies with the SDGs outweigh trade-offs. Trade-offs can be addressed through policy measures, strategic information sharing, creating partnerships among social actors. Specific interventions related to these two demand-side mitigation options are categorised using ' Avoid', 'Shift' and 'Improve' framework. This framework helps in categorising interventions/policy measures leading to various levels of emission reduction: incremental reduction through 'Shift' and 'Improve' interventions and absolute reduction through 'Avoid' interventions. A total of 92 interventions are identified. We summarised the social actors involved in implementing these interventions for each of the ' Avoid', 'Shift' and 'Improve' categories and outlined the scope for future research. • 92 interventions in reducing food waste and changing dietary choices are identified. • Interventions either help to 'Avoid' , 'Shift' or 'Improve' in emissions. • Interventions need to come from a wide variety of social actors to drive final behavioural change. • Food related demand side mitigation options advance SDGs but also have some trade-offs. • Food related demand side mitigation options have strong positive link with SDGs 4, 16 and 17. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been collaborating with Indian institutions to organise outreach events. This essay draws on the perspective of participants, speakers and organisers of 17 in-person outreach events conducted across India in 2018 and 2020, to share insights and recommendations for future IPCC events in India and other developing country contexts. The formats analysed in this essay range from panel events with very large public audiences to more focused workshops, meetings and seminars. Target audiences covered both academic and non-academic audiences and included researchers, teachers, students, industry and NGOs. The events, while achieving their main objective of communicating the findings of IPCC reports, also provided a platform for open discussion of localised climate impacts and good practices in adaptation and mitigation. There are, however, notable challenges to public outreach in India, specifically in terms of attracting an adequate number of participants, experts’ availability, communicating to a diverse audience and translation into local languages. The biggest challenge faced by speakers was a lack of knowledge about the number of attendees and the composition of the audience prior to an event. It is our recommendation that future outreach events in India are designed to be interactive, tailored to the regional context and complemented by simplified communication materials. Speakers should be provided with audience information and background prior to the event, and greater reach into rural areas, including school children, could be achieved with material in local languages. Additionally, event organisers often require logistical and operational support to host outreach events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated a potential transition of India's power sector to 100% wind and solar energy sources. Applying a macro-energy IDEEA (Indian Zero Carbon Energy Pathways) model to 32 regions and 114 locations of potential installation of wind energy and 60 locations of solar energy, we evaluated a 100% renewable power system in India as a concept. We considered 153 scenarios with varying sets of generating and balancing technologies to evaluate each intermittent energy source separately and their complementarity. Our analysis confirms the potential technical feasibility and long-term reliability of a 100% renewable system for India, even with solar and wind energy only. Such a dual energy source system can potentially deliver fivefold the annual demand of 2019. The robust, reliable supply can be achieved in the long term, as verified by 41 years of weather data. The required expansion of energy storage and the grid will depend on the wind and solar energy structure and the types of generating technologies. Solar energy mostly requires intraday balancing that can be achieved through storage or demand-side flexibility. Wind energy is more seasonal and spatially scattered, and benefits from the long-distance grid expansion for balancing. The complementarity of the two resources on a spatial scale reduces requirements for energy storage. The demand-side flexibility is the key in developing low-cost supply with minimum curtailments. This can be potentially achieved with the proposed two-level electricity market where electricity prices reflect variability of the supply. A modelled experiment with price signals demonstrates how balancing capacity depends on the price levels of guaranteed and flexible types of loads, and therefore, can be defined by the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]