Topic 15
Recommendations for the assessment, planning, implementation, and monitoring of the transition to circular and resource efficient economies
Mahesh Sankaran
Professor - Community & Ecosystems Ecology; National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCBS-TIFR)
MOTIVATION
Increases in population and incomes, unequal financial allocations, social inequities, community exploitation, and insufficient climate risk assessment for integrated policy and financial decisions have led to a lack of coherent decision making about climate uncertainties. There is also a lack of research on new technologies that build domestic capacities for climate action. Climate change impacts such as extreme weather deeply impact communities where majority of the household will suffer. This results in a national decrease in productivity with impacts on food and nutrition resulting in malnutrition in women and children. Also, the transport sector is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10% while natural resource extraction is increasing and 240 million people in India have no access to electricity.
To address these issues, we need to work on making India a resource efficient economy by increasing support for research, evidence-based policies and circular economies in a way that fosters just transition, builds resilience, and strengthens livelihoods.
AIMS
1. Evaluate sector-based case studies to identify social, cultural, health, economic, policy, governance, ecological, and environmental conditions, criteria, limitations, and best practices underlying the implementation of circularity and/or resource efficiency in India.
2. Use participatory approaches to develop a matrix for the assessment, planning, implementation, and monitoring of market-based strategies.
3. Develop a framework as the basis for policy and practice guidelines to transition to and scale resource efficient economies.
IMPACT
This project can:
1. Lead to proactive planning for resource efficient economies and circularity.
2. Help governments capitalize on the benefits of transitioning to circularity/resource efficiency.
3. Provide best practices and practical guidelines that can be implemented on ground.
4. Help move toward achieving the SDGs.
5. Increase income equality through efficient resource use, job creation, improved value chains, and reduced resource wastage.
6. Provide resources to identify gaps for long-term strategies to effective transitions