“The issue of energy and climate havoc are very complex and have been approached in a  reductive way. That’s why we have not moved towards real solutions,” noted environmentalist and climate activist Dr.  Vandana Shiva said in her keynote address at the 5th annual Energy Finance Conference India, held at IIT Madras on  Jan 18 & 19. 

She further added, “Food has become the turf of contestation in climate change debate. Industrial food production is  leading to consumption of fossil fuels, and is a leading driver for pollution and climate change. The fertiliser industry’s  new buzzword is ‘farming without farmers’ which will pave the way for a disastrous future.”

Prominent among the speakers for the two-day conference were Aniruddha Banerjee, Chief General Manager from  ONGC India; Dr. Satyanarayanan Seshadri, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Chennai; Soumya Dutta, Trustee,  MAUSAM; M Arun Kumar Murugan, Tata Power; Prabhajit Kumar Sarkar, CEO, Ampera Energy Pvt. Ltd; Maria  Chirayil, Senior Research Associate, Prayas Energy Group; Suranjali Tandon, National Institute of Public Finance and  Policy; Avantika Goswami, Centre for Science and Environment; Chandrashekhar Chincholkar, Customized Energy  Solution; Simran Grover, Centre For Energy, Environment, and People, and others. 

Dr. Krishna Vasudevan, Center and Area Coordinator for Energy at Indo-German Center for Sustainability (IGCS) and  Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras said, “With decarbonization becoming an urgent need, it is  prudent to address immediately, the sector that contributes the most. The Energy sector is the one to be focussed on,  addressing all the ramifications on technological, economic, social and environmental fronts.”

The Conference, held at IIT-Madras on January 18th and 19th, 2024, was attended by academics, think-tanks, industry  representatives, experts and activists. The theme of the conference this year is ‘Decarbonisation’ with several discussions  held around the policy on decarbonising, role of technological innovation in decarbonising the energy sector, financing  decarbonising, international trends in decarbonising and its influence on India, alternatives to fossil fuel industry, etc. 

“A policy on energy decarbonisation needs to necessarily address emissions from the fossil fuel industry. Anything short  of this is only an eye wash, a postponement of a climate catastrophe and letting the industry go scott free while putting  the burden on people who are already vulnerable to the outcomes of the climate crises,” said Swathi Seshadri, Director  Programs, Centre for Financial Accountability.

“Decarbonisation is a vital cog in India’s energy journey. If India has to grow sustainably while tackling the impacts of  climate change, it becomes imperative that it follows the path of decarbonisation. For the Indian industry, which is  trying to compete globally, it is becoming crucial to incorporate policies supporting decarbonisation otherwise they  won’t remain relevant on the international stage, which is becoming extremely sensitive on the issue,” said Aarti Khosla,  Director, Climate Trends.

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SMB/KV

 

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