The sixth edition of CEEW Energy Access Dialogues  will focus on Enabling Access to Clean Cooking Energy for the Urban Poor. Urban slums suffer from double burden of air pollution. In addition to the high ambient particulate matter in cities, they are also exposed to household air pollution (HAP) from the use of unclean cooking fuels. The session will draw insights from a CEEW survey conducted across urban slums in six states—Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The session will provide an overview of the cooking fuel use patterns in urban slum households. We will deliberate on the need to integrate access to clean cooking energy within the ambit of services for the urban poor to address the vulnerability of women, children, and communities to HAP.

Energy Access Dialogues is a quarterly forum where researchers and practitioners discuss their ongoing work in energy access, deliberate on its implications, explore possibilities for collaborative work, and review immediate priorities in the energy access space.

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India is already experiencing a preview of the large-scale disasters and socio-economic upheaval that could be created by climate extreme events without adequate mitigation strategies. India’s future growth is now intricately linked to climate risks. Investments in hard infrastructure, such as housing, transport, power, and industries especially along the coasts will be at risk, while vulnerable communities with low adaptive capacity will be most severely hit. Additionally, with weather-related insurance losses mounting, there are warning signs of climate change triggering the next financial crisis.

During the session, we will discuss how mainstreaming climate risk assessment can help relevant stakeholders make climate-proof decisions and investments.

India’s economy, and the country’s agriculture sector, in particular, is highly water-intensive and substantial water resources are locked up in less productive growth. This is highly relevant in areas where water availability is constrained, while at the same time, implementation of development programmes such as Har Ghar Jal and Make in India would require good quality, reliable water supply. The study finds significant potential for water savings in agriculture and subsequent reallocation to other sectors. This inter-sectoral transfer of water must be accompanied by appropriate incentives for water users across sectors as well as institutional and regulatory restructuring.

During the session, we will delve into policies and interventions that could correctly and fairly incentivise farmers to adopt practices for better input management and water-use efficiency. We will also unpack how various institutional and regulatory reforms could positively work towards farmers' interest while at the same time evoke the need to maintain and develop water use efficiency.

The session will mark the launch of our latest study 'Can Electric Mobility Support India's Sustainable Economic Recovery Post COVID-19?' A rapid and sustained transition to electric mobility in India hinges on domestic manufacturing with a high degree of localisation. This will allow for better control over the quality of EV components and lower costs which will accelerate EV adoption in India. There are several building blocks to realising a globally competitive EV industry in India and this will require several stakeholders to act in concert.

During the session, we will unpack strategies to scale investments into EV component manufacturing and the role of stable and long-term policies. We will also delve into possible pre-emptive measures to assuage the impact on ICE manufacturing jobs and a potential fuel tax revenue hit for central and state governments.