IITB ADCPS SCPP Workshop on
Climate Change Impacts and Environmental Justice in India
20th December 2024, 9:30 am
IRCC Conference Room 2 (Third Floor), Rahul Bajaj Technology Innovation Centre (Building), IIT Bombay
India is increasingly facing the brunt of climate change, with severe heat waves, deteriorating air quality, and acute water crises disproportionately affecting its most vulnerable populations. This workshop explores these interconnected challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on the need for equitable responses to mitigate their impacts.
Heat waves in India are becoming more intense and frequent, leading to significant health risks, especially for low-income communities lacking access to cooling or healthcare. Metropolitan cities in India exemplify this disparity, with poorer neighbourhoods experiencing temperatures higher than affluent areas due to urban heat islands, poor infrastructure, and limited green cover. Air quality further compounds these vulnerabilities. Industrial emissions, vehicular pollution, and practices like crop burning contribute to some of the worst air pollution globally. Marginalized communities, often without resources to mitigate exposure, face heightened risks of respiratory illnesses.
The water crisis deepens these inequities. Erratic rainfall, urban floods, depleting groundwater, and water pollution create conflicts over access to clean water, leaving millions struggling daily for survival.
This workshop examines these crises through the lens of environmental justice, integrating insights from social sciences, public policy, and engineering to understand the challenging nature of the problem. This workshop aims to facilitate meaningful collaborations between social science scholars and climate scientists, fostering a multidisciplinary approach to tackling the interconnected challenges of climate change and environmental justice. By creating a platform for dialogue and exchange, the workshop will enable participants to bridge disciplinary gaps, develop mutual understanding, and complement each other’s expertise. In the context of the Global South, where these issues are particularly acute, such collaboration is essential to address the complex socio-environmental dynamics at play.
Session 1: Introduction to the workshop (9:30–10:30 am)
Welcome and Background to the Workshop: Naveen Bharathi (IITB): 15 min
A Conceptual Overview of Env and Climate Justice: Prakash Kashwan (Brandies): 45 min (including
Q&A/Discussions 15 minutes)
Session 2: Thermal Injustice (10:30 am–1:00 pm)
Sneha Thaplial (NLSIU): Urban greens and heat wave impacts on urban heat island effect
Kamalkumar Murari (TISS): Heat Action Plan for India
Angshuman Modak (IITB): Urban heat islands and implications for environmental justice and
adaptation
Soundarya Iyer (RVU): Agrarian transformation, rural-urban migration and climate change in India
Lunch: 1:00–2:15 pm, Padmavihar Guesthouse (for participants)
Session 3: Air quality and behavioral approach to climate change (2:15–3:15 pm)
Chandra Venkatraman (IITB): Reflections on Air Quality research in India
Pankaj Sekhsaria (IITB): Infrastructure Projects, Climate Change and Environmental Justice
Vivek Vivek (Independent Scholar): Human Behaviour and the Environment – Interventions to Lower
Consumption
3:15 pm – 3:30 pm Coffee Break
Session 4: Synthesize & Strategize the next step (3:30–4:30 pm)
All the participants
Dinner: 8 pm onwards, Padmavihar Guesthouse (for participants)