Strategy for the Long Term Low Carbon Energy Transition for India in the Context of Sustainable Development

Climate change is a grave systemic risk and one of the most formidable threats to the stability of the global financial system. The transition to a low-carbon economy requires a reallocation of capital and global financial flows. Against this backdrop through this paper we find out the response to the research question of whether there is a need to design and implement a long term clean energy transition strategy for emerging market and developing economies demonstrating India as an example. The developing countries have to ensure affordable and reliable energy to all and reduce its dependence on fossil-based energy taking into account the challenges of lack of availability of adequate financial resources, constrains in the deployment of cost intensive technology at commercial scale and bridging the capacity building gaps. We have conducted systematic literature review on this aspect. Based on the identified research gaps and supplementing the inputs received through interactions and interviews held with the relevant subject experts, academicians and policy makers, we have suggested that detailed subnational level studies are required to be conducted to estimate the cost of implementing any long-term low carbon energy transition plan for India. Such study should clearly address the challenges of low carbon energy transition from the social, economic and equity perspective of development of the fossil fuel dependent communities. Future studies should underscore the need for grounding of clean technologies at commercial scale for various sectors and estimate the requirement of international climate finance to augment the limited budgetary resources of the national and sub-national governments in India.