India’s Sustainable

Development Challenges

Dr Ritu Mathur, TERI

June 17, 2013

Sustainable development: Global genesis (1)

• The term ‘sustainable development’ was coined by Indian

economist, Nitin Desai, while he was a senior economic

adviser to the World Commission on Environment and

Development (WCED) that was established by UNEP

Governing Council in 1983; this Commission later came to

be known as the Brundtland Commission

• “…development policy, in the broadest sense and

environmental policy be integrated in a common framework.

The concept of 'sustainable development' can provide the

basis for such an integration…” (Desai [1986],

correspondence dated 27 June 1986)

Sustainable development: Global genesis (2)

DEFINITION

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of future generations to

meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's

poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and

• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social

organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future

needs.

(Chapter 2, Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and

Development, 1987)

Sustainable development: Indian context

The Constitution of India

The National Environment Policy

Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-1990)

• Article 21 conferring the Right to Life encompasses right to clean environment, right

to livelihood, right to live with dignity and a number of other associated rights

• The Directive Principles of State Policy often referred to as the ‘conscience’ of the

Constitution are intended to ensure ‘distributive justice’ and that political democracy

in India is accompanied side by side with social and economic democracy

• “only such development is sustainable, which respects ecological constraints and the

imperatives of social justice”

• “If the gains in productivity are to be sustained, resources must also continue to be

available over time. This requires that, while providing for current needs, the resources

base be managed so as to enable sustainable development.” (Volume 2, Chapter 18)

Dimensions of Sustainability

Source: Munasinghe, M, (1994)

5 Basic Human-Nature relationship paradigms

• Frontier economics: Focus on materialistic progress; unbridled

exploitation of infinite natural resources;

• Deep ecology: Anti-growth; ‘harmony with nature’ as main

imperative; bio-centric rather than anthropocentric view of the

human-nature relationship

• Environmental protection: Primary imperative to manage ‘trade-offs’

in ecology vs economic growth (optimizing pollution)

• Resource management: Focus on ‘economizing ecology’ &

“interdependence” between environment and development;

“Sustainability” as necessary constraint for “green growth”

• Eco-development: Based on the theme of ‘ecologizing economy’ and

‘ecological uncertainty’; co-developing humans and nature

Components of sustainable development:

Emerging views

• Also focus on interfaces

around components of

sustainable development

• Social ecology (social and

environment)

• Green economy (economic

and environment)

• Social equity (social and

economic)

Social

Environment

Social

Ecology

Sustainable

Development

Green

Economy

Social Equity

Economy

Social

Environment

Social

Ecology

Sustainable

Development

Green

Economy

Social Equity

Economy

Also see GoI (2010), official submission to UNCSD

second preparatory committee meeting, pg 30

Figure Interfaces of the components of sustainable

development

SD and its many interpretations! • As a ‘concept’

• the two words in the phrase refer to two different thought systems

and the relationship between the two is often defined/analyzed on

the basis of a particular scientific domain or a specific cultural

context

• As an ‘ethical principle’

• ‘sustainability’ vs ‘SD’; normative and positive approaches

• As an ‘ideology’

• North-South conflicts

• As an ‘area of knowledge

• complexity, cross or trans-disciplinary

Rio +20, 2012

• The Future We Want:

• ‘eradicating poverty the greatest global challenge …. and an

indispensable requirement for SD’

• ‘green economy …. as one of the important tools available for

achieving SD and that could provide options for policymaking but

should not be a rigid set of rules’

• need for an improved and more effective institutional framework for

SD (decision to establish a high-level inter-governmental political

forum)

• SD goals to complement MDGs beyond 2015

India’s Grand Challenges

• A population of 1.2 billion likely to stabilise only in 2160

at about 1.6 billion!

• Average age of Indian in 2020 26 years

• 70% of this in rural India dependent almost entirely on

agriculture

• Agriculture contributes to ~ 14% of GDP

• Population below poverty line estimated at 37.2% in 2005

• 50% children born under-weight; 59% under-5s stunted

India’s Grand Challenges

• Rural to Urban Migration

• By 2030 over 40% of people in Urban areas

• 63.5 million new entrants to working age group between 2011 and 2016

• Only 15.6% regular salaried employment, 33.5 % casual labour and 51% self employed in 2009-10

• Human Development Report measures Development in form of Health, Education and a decent standard of living

• India dropped to 134 out of 187 countries in 2011

Available land per capita

Total Annual Rainfall

Fresh water run-off

Water Storage Capacity

Freshwater

Withdrawals

This diagram shows the impact of expected population growth on water usage by 2025,

based on the UN mid-range population projection. It uses the current rate of water use per

person without taking into account possible increases in water use due to economic

growth or improvements in water use efficiency

The importance of small forestry

enterprises in developing countries

Biodiversity

Impacts

Primary energy consumption per capita

BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2012

© BP 2012

Mapping Energy Access Final energy access (non-commercial share) in relation to population density

Environmental

Carrying Capacity

Agricultural vulnerability to Climate Change

Shape of Things to Come – More

consumption

• The survey shows the share of the food basket in total consumption expenditure is coming down in both rural and urban India. The share of food in consumer expenditure was 57% in rural India and 44.4% in urban India.

• The share of food in total consumption has declined since 1987-88 by about 10 percentage points to 53.6% in the rural sector and by about 16 percentage points to 40.7% in the urban sector.

• In rural India, people are spending less and less on cereals, edible oil and fruits. They are spending more on pulses, milk, non-vegetarian items and beverages. In urban India, consumption of nearly all food items is either going down or is constant compared with the earlier survey.

• In both rural and urban India, consumption of non-food items, which include consumer durables, education and recreation, among others, has gone up as a result of the decline in expenditure on food items.

NSSO, 66th Round

India’s Grand Challenges

• Needs to provide JOBS – Growth in Manufacturing

Sector

• Needs to create sustainable infrastructure

• Needs to innovate

• Needs new models of development

• Sustainable urbanization

Energy and Resources

TERI’S CONTRIBUTIONS Water

Water Audits: Enhancing Water Use Efficiency

Industries, City Supply systems

Water use diagram of a typical coal based thermal power plant

Ash water recirculation

Filter

House

Boilers

Steam

Turbines

Condensers

Feed Water

Fire

Fighting

Surface Water Reservoir

Ash

Handling

System

Ash water

Tank

Ash

Dyke

Evaporative + Drift

Losses

Cooling

Towers

Auxiliary

uses

Coal

Handling

Power

Generation

Unit

Ma

ke

-up

Wa

ter

Drinking

water

supply

Raw Water

Treatment

(Clarification)

DM Plant

Closed-Cycle

Water

Recirculation

Power Plant:

Immediate saving potential of about (81000

m3/day) 23% of total intake water

Total overall water saving potential: ~ 60% of the

total intake water (freshwater).

Significant financial savings from water saving

interventions: ~ INR 7-9 Crores.

Cost benefit of water recycling system: Positive

with a payback period of 2.3 years.

Urban Water Demand Management

BHOPAL GWALIOR JABALPUR INDORE

Water losses (%) 22.8 43.2 33.8 30.5

Non-revenue water (NRW) (%) 28.2 43.9 36.9 38.4

Integrated

Watershed

Management

Kolahoi Glacier

East Rathong Glacier

East Rathong Glacier (Sikkim) West Sikkim (N 27º 33‘, 27º48‘: E 88º 46‘, 88º51‘, snout elevation: 4675 masl, south facing)

Kolahoi Glacier (Kashmir) Lidder Valley, Jammu and Kashmir (N 34º 07‘-34º 12‘: E 75º 16‘-75º 23‘, snout elevation: 3700 masl north facing)

Glacier Studies

Phase 1: Establishment of Glacier Monitoring Observatories/ field laboratories

Phase 2: Analysis of satellite data and field experiments for calculation of modelling constants

Phase 3: Development of integrated runoff model

Impacts of climate change & watershed development

on agricultural water security

TERI’S CONTRIBUTIONS Energy

Lighting…

We commit to enable a billion lives to access

light from solar technologies

A Solar Lighting Program launched by The Energy and Resources Institute

Lighting a Billion Lives©a

Official Launch by

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

Feb, 2008

Lighting a Billion Lives©a (LaBL)

A commitment to improving the quality of lives of rural communities

LaBL sets up solar charging stations in energy poor

villages that offer certified, bright, and quality solar

lanterns for rental to the local people. A trained local

entrepreneur operates and manages the charging station

and leases the solar lanterns every evening for a very

affordable fee.

LaBL: Innovating at Every Step Continuous improvements in solar lantern

designs with reputed technology partners,

driving down cost and improving efficiency &

quality

Charging stations expandable to solar energy

hubs, providing services like water

purification and multi-purpose battery

charging

Creation of an after-sales service network,

the Technical Resource Center (TRC), for

repair services through local community

representatives

Implementation of mobile phone charging

facilities through LaBL stations, under the

support of Dept of Telecommunications, Govt.

of India

Funding

Partners Corporations, CSR

Initiatives, Co-

financing schemes,

Government,

Individuals

LaBL Model: Reaching the Base of the Pyramid

Specification

development,

Design testing,

Product

innovation

Steering Committee and Patrons

Technology Partners Quality Product suppliers and Service providers

TERI Program coordination, Implementation,

Monitoring and supervision, Outreach

Partner Organizations (local NGOs, grassroots organizations)

Ground support, Identification of sites and Selection

of entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs (village youth, women, teachers)

Operate & Manage solar energy charging stations

Community: Ultimate users and beneficiaries

Technology

Resource

Centres

After-sales

services

LaBL Impact: Lighting Facilitates Livelihood in Villages

Productive hours in the evening with non-

polluting, bright, and reliable lighting

Income generation for the entrepreneur and the

trained repair service providers

Facilitates Education in Villages

Better illumination and additional hours for

students to study

Facilitates Health in Villages

Solar lanterns being rented by village level

Primary Health Centres

Facilitates Bio-conservation

Solar lighting in villages within & around eco-

reserves acts as incentive towards wildlife

protection by providing alternative livelihood

options

Benefiting farmers in tasks like picking betel leaves and watering plants at night

Covering 23 tribal residential schools in Orissa, providing lighting for over 1500 students

Midwives using

LaBL lanterns to

bring life on earth

in a smoke free

environment. More

than 50 such

deliveries reported

across 18 villages

Partnering with organizations like Tiger Watch to support biodiversity conservation

LaBL: Bringing Technology to the Masses C

ost of Illu

min

ating a

vill

age w

ith 5

0 lante

rns (I

NR

in T

housands) Lighting a Billion Lives-

Learning Curve

Solar Hybrid Renewable

Energy Power Plant

Hybridization of biomass gasifier based

boiler with trough based, 50 kW CSP to

increase its utilization period.

• 600+ thermal gasifiers have been installed in different sectors

• The replications of thermal applications of gasifier in various MSME have clearly established the gasifier technology as a cost effective energy delivery system.

• Generated positive spin-off effects, both within and outside the country

• Energy savings and CO2

reductions (including MSME component)

Gasifier applications in MSMEs

• Annually one-third of the harvested fruits

and vegetables, worth about USD 12

billion lost due to lack of post-harvest

handling and storage.

• In 2006, we started working on a concept

using indigenously available biomass and

solar resources to operate small,

decentralized cold storage at village level

• The cold storage system developed,

comprises a 15 kW (~5 TR) Vapor

Absorption Machine (VAM) coupled

with a 50 kWe Biomass Gasifier system

and a field of solar concentrating

collectors.

• The first prototype has been installed in

Gurgaon near New Delhi

Solar Biomass Hybrid Cold Storage and Power Generation

Evolving landscape of sustainable habitats in India

Over 100 audits

CII-Sorabhji Godrej Green

Business Centre, Hyderabad

Ministry of New and

Renewable Energy, GoI

Thank you