Policy Development for Clean Energy Technology

Under the guidance of C20 India 2023 Chair and Amrita’s Chancellor, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Amma, Amrita hosted the C20 Working Group on Sustaianble and Resilient Communities – Climate, Environment and Net Zero Targets. The working group submitted policy recommendations to G20 leadership after based on several consultations with international civil society organizations and policy makers. 

The policy recommendations by Sustainable and Resilient Communities involves recommendations in areas such as:

1. Lifestyle Changes & Demand Reduction

G20 nations must commit to promoting sustainable lifestyles focused on reducing the quantum of residual emissions that have to be balanced, by promoting solutions that bridge socio-behavioural, infrastructural, and technological domains.

• Redesign communities, urban form, and infrastructure to drastically reduce induced GHG emissions. 
• Introduce policy incentives for highemission individuals, organisations, enterprises and communities to reduce consumption and modify behaviour and choices to achieve lower per capita resource footprints while ensuring wellbeing.
• Promote redesign of living spaces – enhance efficiency in use of floor space, increase daylighting and passive thermal management, use only smart appliances, minimise materials in construction. 
• Transformatively reduce total geographical distances travelled by individuals and goods – minimise travel for work, promote teleworking and shared pooled mobility, promote city – and state level rail transport powered by renewables, incentivise decentralised, coupled production consumption infrastructures, systems and provisioning of services.
• Incentivize transitions to energy, food, water, and resource selfsufficiency – on-site renewables and micro-grids, household-level food production, resource sharing, lifeenhanced and efficient products, reuse and recycling, incentivize shift to plant-based diet.
• Design and promote energy, emissions, and resource-efficient. management of electronic devices

2. Circular Economy

C20 urges G20 to mandate the use of circular economy principles in designing, financing and implementation of policies for transitions to net zero emissions.

• Accelerating time-bound planning, funding and development of solutions for recycling, reuse and valorisation of spent waste arising from the technologies being adopted at global scale.
• Mandating decentralised, affordable, efficient and clean recycling, reuse and valorisation solutions as the necessary condition for a technology to be deemed sustainable.
• Promoting grassroots and frugal innovations for sustainable emissions reductions.

3. Deep Decarbonization

G20 must accelerate deep decarbonization initiatives across all sectors to achieve tangible national and global targets for net zero emissions within 2050. C20 calls for G20 nations to:

• Immediately cease subsidies for fossil fuels. 
• Transparently determine and commit to peaks and timelines in emissions. 
• Incentivise adoption of energyefficient appliances and solutions across sectors and value chains. 
• Mandate time-bound, renewablespowered electrification of energy/ thermal sources in industries and phasing out of coal & fossil fuels.
• Mandate time-bound transition to sustainable feedstock for hard-toabate chemical industries.
• Design, implement and monitor solutions to prevent lock-in emissions in future sectoral growth.
• Effectively monitor and eliminate greenwashing, green colonialism, and monoculture plantations for carbon capture.

Global Policy Consultations

The policy recommendations were developed in consultation with various international CSO’s, policy makers etc. Some key events conducted are from Feb’23 to Jun’23 are as follows:

1. C20 Dialogues – Technology Integration, Finance and Adoption Strategies for Addressing Net Zero Emissions Management
2. C20 Policy Dialogues – Transitioning to Renewable Electricity and Renewable Integrated Grids
3. Online Webinar – Net Zero Emission Targets – Energy Storage Systems in Battery Electric Vehicles
4. C20 Policy Dialogues – Decarbonising Infrastructure towards Net Zero Emissions
5. Decoding Results Based Climate Finance (RBCF): Strategies for Success
6. C20 Policy Round Table on Green Finance
7. Financing a Just Energy Transition Through Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform

Some key international organizations that participated are:

C20 Working Group on Sustainable and Resilient Communities – Climate, Environment and Net Zero Targets has engaged in extensive consultations and engagements at national level through policy consultations. To bring the voices at the grassroot level to national and international forums, by identifying the unique challenges faced by rural India, the WG conducted compassion-driven chaupals in villages across the country from February to June 2023, in collaboration with NGOs, panchayat members, and village elders.

This includes 11 Indian states, such as Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Kerala, West Bengal and Maharashtra. 

These chaupals, a traditional Indian village gathering format, were designed to resonate with the local culture and provide a relatable platform for discussions on energy sustainability.

Villagers were trained and educated on essential topics like efficient energy usage, alternative energy sources, and the benefits of adopting sustainable energy practices. By addressing these issues from a rural Indian standpoint, the sessions emphasized cost-effective and locally implementable solutions such as solar-powered lighting, energy-efficient cooking methods, and reducing dependency on traditional fuels.

The involvement of panchayat leaders and elders ensured the sessions were rooted in the community’s social fabric, fostering trust and active participation. These efforts not only created awareness but also inspired action among villagers, empowering them to take small yet impactful steps toward energy sustainability and self-reliance.

Some key national organizations that participated are:

Amrita and its faculty members have participated in several key dialogues with industry and government thereby contributing to policy development in the area of clean energy technology at regional level.

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham collaborates with stakeholders such as local government authorities, energy providers, environmental organizations, academic experts, and community leaders to develop energy policies at the local level. These policies aim to promote sustainable energy solutions, enhance energy access, technological solutions for clean energy and improve energy efficiency, ensuring that all segments of the community benefit.

Meetings with Alapad Panchayat Members were held on 20 September 23 for promoting renewable energy in the community. The outcome of the meeting including challenges and community specific suggestions were documented and handed over to the panchayat president.

Discussions with village heads and locals on the use of solar energy for farming in rural India. The outcome of the meeting including community specific recommendations were documented and handed over to village elders.

Community Speak – Sessions to bring out challenges for policy development in Rural India