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Dr Arunabha Ghosh to Co-Chair Thematic Group to Draft Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2020

We are proud to announce that Dr Arunabha Ghosh has been appointed as a Co-Chair of the thematic group on ‘Energy, Environment and Climate Change’ constituted as a part of formulating India’s new Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP 2020). The Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) have jointly initiated the process of formulating India’s fifth national policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Principal Scientific Adviser Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Member NITI Aayog Dr V. K. Saraswat, and DST Secretary Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, will chair the apex committee to finalise the policy.

STIP 2020 is being formulated at a crucial juncture where India and the world is tackling the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic. The post-COVID-19 world demands a new outlook and strategy for STI — in terms of priorities, sectoral focus, and broadly the way research is done, technologies are developed and deployed for larger socio-economic welfare. For the first time, about 10,000 people will be consulted in the preparation of STIP 2020 and the thematic groups will provide the technical inputs.

As part of the STIP 2020 policy drafting exercise, 21 thematic groups (TGs) have been constituted. Other members of the thematic group on ‘Energy, Environment & Climate Change include Co-Chair Mr Mukul Sanwal (Former Policy Adviser to the Executive Director of UNEP and later to the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC), Dr Sanjay Bajpai (Head/Adviser, Technology Missions Division, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India), Dr Ulka Kelkar (Director – Climate, World Resources Institute, India), Dr Laxminarayan Rao (Assistant Professor, Center for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science).

The first four STIs were:

  1. Scientific Policy Resolution (SPR1958)
  2. Technology Policy Statement 1983 (TPS1983)
  3. Science and Technology Policy 2003 (STP2003)
  4. Science Technology Innovation Policy 2013 (STIP2013)

Dr Ghosh advises governments, industry, civil society, and international organisations around the world. He was recently appointed as one of the six members to a high-level panel of the Environment of Peace initiative chaired by Margot Wallström, who served as Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs until 2019. In 2018, the UN Secretary-General nominated him to the UN's Committee for Development Policy. In 2018, the Government of India appointed him as a member of the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority for the National Capital Region.

He is also a member of the Global Future Council on Energy at the World Economic Forum. He has advised India’s Prime Minister’s Office, several ministries and state governments, and international organisations. He was also invited by the Government of France, as a Personnalité d’Avenir, to advise on the COP-21 climate negotiations; also advised extensively on HFC negotiations under the Montreal Protocol; and was instrumental in conceptualising and designing the International Solar Alliance.