NRDC

Climate Resilience
and Health

Deadly pollution levels, rapid urbanization, and rising incidence of climate disasters are all making communities in India increasingly vulnerable to climate change. NRDC India is focused on city-led programs connected to national policies to mitigate air pollution and build climate resilience to extreme heat.

India’s air pollution levels have become a public health and economic threat

On EV’s, our work in Gujarat and Telangana is the equivalent of moving all of France and Spain to EVs

Air Quality, Public Health and Climate are Intricately Connected

Demand for electricity to keep people cool and safe from sweltering heat is critical
Substituting solar energy for coal combustion can help meet rising cooling demand and improve air quality, and cool roof deployments can dampen energy demand for cooling buildings
To motivate stronger climate ambition, NRDC India is leading an applied analysis in Ahmedabad with experts to identify near-term health gains from cleaner air and longer-term climate benefits
NRDC’s policy-relevant analysis is directly informed by India's Paris Commitments & National Cooling Action Plan

Clean Air Strategies

Develop and ensure implementation of sector-specific emission reduction roadmaps in Ahmedabad and Pune.

Identify three new cities to develop Air Information and Response Plans and subsequent sector-specific roadmaps.

Scale communications about air pollution health risk to vulnerable communities across targeted states and cities.

Expand the scope of Heat Action Plans (HAPs) with cool roofs and regularly update temperature thresholds for early warning systems.

Build local evidence for the strong linkage between climate actions and health co-benefits.

Clean Air Publications

Building Smart from the Start: Implementation of Energy Saving Building Codes in Uttar Pradesh

Case Study | November, 2020

Towering Possibilities in India: Scaling up the Implementation of Energy Conservation Building Across States

Issue Brief | September, 2019

Getting Cities Climate-Ready: The Story of India’s First Mandatory Energy Efficient Building Compliance System...

Case Study | December, 2018

Resource Guide for the Telangana ECBC

Fact sheet | December, 2017

Online Compliance System for Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) For Hyderabad

Fact Sheet | December, 2017

Building Efficient Cities: Strengthening the Indian Real Estate Market Through Codes and Incentives

Issue Brief | January, 2014

Prior to 2023, Indian experts worked as consultants with NRDC, and their work was thus hosted on NRDC’s website

Our Experts

Polash Mukerjee

Air Quality and
Climate Resilience Lead

Polash Mukerjee leads NRDC's work on air quality in India. His expertise is in developing emission reduction roadmaps, as well as financial and regulatory environmental health governance tools, clean fuel and vehicular technologies, and assessing air pollution sources. He is also involved in strategic work on clean mobility, international climate policy as well as communications for the India team. He is a researcher and policy advocacy professional with over 8 years of experience in environmental health and air quality management. He works closely with a diverse set of stakeholders spanning state, civil society, and private sector actors at the national, regional and city level to improve environmental governance on air quality and extreme heat.

Abhiyant Tiwari

Climate Resilience and
Health Lead

Abhiyant Tiwari is the lead climate resilience and health consultant at NRDC India. His interest includes environmental, climate, and disaster risks to public health, and he works to advance evidence-based adaptation and mitigation policies and actions in these areas. He has extensive experience in working with academia, governments, and non-profits on public health research, program and policy development, management, and evaluation. Right from the development and implementation of the first Heat Action Plan (HAP) of South Asia in the city of Ahmedabad in 2013, as a public health researcher and practitioner at the Public Health Foundation of India, Abhiyant has worked with knowledge partners like Natural Resources Defense Council and policy partners like national and sub-national governments on developing, implementing, and scaling heatwave health adaptation plans in South Asia region.