CSTEP releases new study on Quality of Life for All: A Sustainable Development Framework

A new study, Quality of Life for All: A Sustainable Development Framework for India’s Climate Policy, released by the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), provides detailed analyses showing that quality of life for everyone can improve along a pathway in which greenhouse gas emissions and energy intensity reduction are co-benefits. CSTEP recommends that India announce such a quality of life pathway as its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).

This study places quality of life for all or sustainable development at the centre of India’s development strategy and asks if we could take a development approach that reduces air pollution, improves fresh water availability, enhances energy services, promotes efficiency in resource-use, provides cleaner cooking fuels, and facilitates food security. Second, when such an approach is adopted, with affordable low-emissions technology choices, what does it do for greenhouse gas emissions and energy intensity?

Such a sustainable development (SD) path for 2030 was compared alongside a Business as Usual (BAU) or Policy as Usual Pathway for 2030. The results show that we can significantly improve quality of life in the SD pathway. Furthermore, in the SD scenario, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 27 % and energy use by 25% in comparison to BAU.

Dr Sujatha Byravan, one of the authors of the report, said, “We have been able to demonstrate an inclusive development pathway in which there is reduction in pollutant emissions and enhanced clean energy access. At the same time, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 16% compared to 2012, while fossil free sources contribute 32 % of our electricity generation by 2030.”

The study builds on the India Energy Security Scenarios (IESS), a platform developed by NITI Aayog, to evaluate the energy demand and supply scenario of various sectors such as agriculture, buildings, industries, power and transport. Further, a bottom-up energy system model (TIMES-MARKAL) was used to examine several combinations of technology and policy options based on constrained optimisation. This ensures that the SD pathway is strictly relevant to national and international contexts.

Mohd. Sahil Ali, one of the authors of the study, said, “We hope that this study will help India think strategically about its long-term economic development in the context of climate change.”

The full Report will be available on the CSTEP website (www.cstep.in) in the first week of September 2015.